


Crimson Reaper

by Pookie08, Yuki_Rose_20



Series: Crimson Reaper AU [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Multi, Other tags to be added, Team CRDL - Freeform, Team JNPR - Freeform, Team RWBY - Freeform, wolf faunus ruby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-29
Updated: 2020-08-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:48:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 33
Words: 92,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22960474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pookie08/pseuds/Pookie08, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuki_Rose_20/pseuds/Yuki_Rose_20
Summary: Ruby Rose is kidnapped at the age of 7 by an unknown group. Experiencing pain and suffering of a massive magnitude could make young Ruby a monster.Having her memory wiped throughout her pain and torture of being experimented on, she loses more than just her will to live but her humanity as well.As a rare type of being already, she is turned into a wolf faunus and used as a hunter of Grimm and assassin against the world, doing her contractors bidding. Until a greying, wise headmaster offers her something she can't refuse after being caught.Will she accept the offer? Will be stop killing for the people she will come to love and care for? Will she find the family she lost at the age of 7? Or will she continue to kill people and hunt down those that forced her to become the Crimson Reaper?I do not own RWBY its characters, music references or anything to do with RWBY. The only thing I own is any OCs I may or may not add into this storyline or in other stories I may write.You can also find me on Wattpad under the same name.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Series: Crimson Reaper AU [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1915630
Comments: 154
Kudos: 268





	1. Death of a Rose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, if you’re all wondering why this story disappeared from on here it’s because unintentionally deleted it earlier today. Luckily AO3 is good enough to send a file of the whole story to my email. So I’m the next couple of days the fic will be being republished. Don’t expect it to be up in just a few days though. 
> 
> Anyways, new readers and old happy reading and check out the new discord server as well as my tumblr page dedicated to this story and Divine Destiny’s. Search up rwbyfan1997 and should find me. There’s also a link to the discord server on there too but if it doesn’t work, message me on tumblr and I’ll send you a new one. Thanks everyone.
> 
> PS. There has been some minor edits to this chapter.

Seven-year-old Ruby Rose watched in awe as her mother, Summer Rose, graciously swung panted and smiled at her youngest daughter; a mischievous grin curling her lips. Putting her scythe against a chair she immediately burst into a flurry of white rose petals, landing behind Ruby. "Boo!" Summer shouted.

Summer Rose, the best of the best when it came to being a huntress. Not only that but a super mum, best cookie maker and the best Grimm slayer. Either that or she slayed Grimm with cookies.

Ruby seemingly jumped a mile into the air as her Mother tickled her under-arms, making the seven-year-old collapse in a fit of laughter.

"Mummy! Please stop!" Ruby pleaded through the fits of laughter.

Summer, stopping her barrage of tickles, picked her up, laughing just as hard.

"When will I get my Semblance, Mummy?" Ruby inquired.

Summer chuckled and said, "When you start training with either your Father or Uncle Qrow." 

Ruby, wearing a red hoodie emblazoned with the Rose crest, black leggings and black boots, looked at her mother not, quite satisfied with the answer given.

"But Mummy, when will that be? And what about my other ability?" she asked, Summer furrowed her brow slightly and said, "When you are old enough to start training your aura. For the both of them, training is different."

"But, Muuummy," the silver eyed child pleaded. 

"Alright," Summer said, giving in to Ruby's adorable puppy dog eyes. "Basically, you'll have to go through a certain amount of training to unlock your semblance. Luckily, you don't need to unlock your aura as you did that last year." The white cloaked woman took a breath before continuing, "I was nine when I unlocked my semblance and eleven when I unlocked my other ability. Your sister doesn't know of our heritage so you must be careful what you say around her, concerning the matter," Summer explained as she took another deep breath when Ruby spoke up, "Why? What's heritage and why are we the only ones with the ability?" 

Summer proceeded to put Ruby down and answered the best she could, "Heritage is what is passed down throughout the family. We inherit what our parents or one of them has. What we are is another matter for another time,"

"Please Mummy," Ruby pleaded for more information.

"Ruby, I said no. I will explain in a few more years, I promise," Summer said, her brow still furrowed. Ruby's sullen look making Summer's expression soften, "Why don't we plant some roses instead or maybe bake some cookies?"

"No thanks Mummy, I'll just go and see what Yang is up to," Ruby sulked, walking back into the two-story cabin-house. 

***

Unknown to the happy family of four, six men watched the house and family. Some human, some faunus. One of the men, hiding in a tree with a pair of binoculars, slid an almost transparent object out of his pocket. Made of metal and dust, the man pressed what looked like a screen and typed in a number. He watched as the women put the child down as the object connected to someone far away. Now showing the face and upper torso of another person on the other end, the man said, "Reporting in, Sir."

"Well, get on with it," the face on the screen said, a hint of impatience in their voice.

"I've found the target from the reports, Sir." The man in the tree said matter of factly, pride showing on his face. 

"What? Are you sure it's her?" the face questioned.

"Yes, Sir. She did not use the ability mentioned in the reports but her semblance and images are all the same from said reports, Sir," the man in the tree unable to keep going through lack of oxygen, taking a deep breath he continued, "The weapon she has also matches up, Sir." The man in the tree was now bursting with pride.

"Finally, we've found you," the face on the screen said, smiling menacingly before adding, "I will send out a party of thirty men to your location. You will attack tonight and abduct the target. Do not kill her! I need her alive." The face on the screen looked to be overjoyed at the news, smiling like a maniac as they placed the order.

"Sir? We have one problem," the man in the tree looked worried as the face on the screen stopped smiling.

"What is it?" they questioned, "Well, the target isn't alone. She has a husband and two children. One of them resembling the target. Also having silver eyes, Sir," the man in the tree said, finishing his report off.

The face on the screen looked like they were going to burst at the seams at the news. Not through rage but through joy at the new report. The face said, "Change of plans. You are to kill the original target, knock the two out but do not kill them and abduct the other silver eyed child." The face on the screen smiled like a maniac once again, too overjoyed and too eager to get his hands on the child.

"Yes, Sir," the man in the tree said switching the object off. "Now to wait for reinforcements," he thought.

***

Stirring from her slumber, Yang, looked across the room to her sleeping little sister, Ruby. 

The blonde-haired girl got out of bed and headed for the bathroom, only to hear a noise outside the house. "Or was that inside the house?" the nine-year-old blonde asked herself. Stopping in front of the bathroom door, she heard it again, only louder this time. Curiosity getting the better of her, she moved away from the bathroom door and took to the stairs. Slowly and quietly, she moved her way down. Her heart thumping in her chest as she got closer to the hallway-come-living room. She heard the noise again. Now at the front door on the last two steps, she noticed the door was open. Scared, she tried running back upstairs as quietly as possible. The fifth step up creaked, giving her position away.

Next thing she knew, she had a dart sticking out of her neck. Immediately feeling dizzy, she collapsed and fell back down the stairs. Her head hitting the last step as she just lay slumped at the bottom step.

The noise made by Yang falling down the stairs had her Father, Taiyang, at the top of the stairs.

"Yang, what's with all the noise? He said, sleepily rubbing his eyes. He stopped as he realised a figure stood over his eldest daughter. "YANG?" he worriedly shouted. The girl didn't move. Instead the figure pointed something at him. Before he could comprehend what it was, he felt something sticking out of his neck. Putting his hand up to remove it, before he could, he collapsed as Summer rushed out of her bedroom with her red and white scythe. 

"Shit," she muttered under her breath as the figure clicked whatever they held. The figure took aim at Summer, firing a barrage of bullets at her.

In a blur of white rose petals, she stood behind him facing in the opposite direction, her scythe at the figures throat. She sliced through the figures throat, their now headless body slumped to the floor, head rolling away. Her eyes followed it as it stopped in front of a man. 

No, a group of men. There were at least ten in the room, aiming guns at her. Bursting into another flurry of petals, flaring her aura a little to protect herself, landed behind another intruder. The intruder anticipated this as he turned swiftly and fired at her. Summer dodged the bullets with ease by activating her semblance once again, appearing at the other end of the room. Feeling the malicious intent behind her, she blocked an incoming attack. Now facing the attacker, she swung her scythe only for them to block with ease. The other intruders saw this as an opportunity to fire upon her. Summer, taking a look at the weapon in the attacker's hands, hesitated to make the next move. Bullets bounced off of her as her aura protected her. Aura weakening, a bullet slipped through, piercing through her upper left arm. 

Gritting her teeth, she swung at the man and burst into rose petals again, ending up outside. That was a mistake as another twenty men surrounded her and the house.

The man with the same weapon walked out of the house as his weapon transformed. The other intruders following him. Summer's eyes widened at the now transformed weapon. "It can't be. It can't be my own mother's weapon," she thought. The men around her fired upon her again as she hesitated. Activating her semblance to try and dodge. Appearing not far from where she was, the barrage of bullets continued. A few bullets hitting her with force as her aura flickered. A couple piercing through her defences, hitting her arm, legs and back.

The scythe wielder's aura flickered out as another bullet hit her in the stomach. It wasn't a normal bullet as she collapsed and started convulsing. Electricity flowing through her body. Consciousness slipping away, she looked at the front door. 

Ruby stood shocked. She was crying. 'No. Ruby, run away,' Summer thought as her mind began slipping away.

A man from the back walked towards the white-cloaked woman. Ruby could only watch as he held something in his hand. A desert eagle pistol to be precise. 

He stood in front of her mother and raised the pistol. Firing off two rounds into her chest without hesitation.

"NOOOO!" Ruby shouted as she watched her mother stop convulsing and die. Right in front of her. Eyes flooding with more tears as she charged at the man who had just shot Summer. Screaming through pain and anger. 

Before she could reach him, a sleep dart was shot into her leg. She fell to the floor, still screaming in anguish. Another dart hit her in the neck. She felt overcome by dizziness. Her head slumped to the floor as she fell unconscious.

Coming out of her forced unconsciousness, Yang crawled to the front door. Ruby lay on the ground, unmoving. Yang tried to speak. Nothing came out. Looking to her left, she saw Summer laying on the ground too. Something was different about her. Two bullet holes in her chest. "NOOOO!" Yang finally found her voice as heartbreak began setting in. 

Everyone noticed the nine-year-old. A man sauntered over to her. "You can watch this next bit, I think," he said menacingly. As he said it, a few others started putting some sort of restraints on Ruby. They picked her up as an airship descended behind the group. 

Other airships soon followed behind. The blonde then watched as Ruby was being put into the first one. "NOO! GIVE HER BACK!" she shouted. Tears flooding down her face. The man pulled a pistol out of a holster. "Say goodbye," he said, laughing. He swung at the girl's head, pistol whipping her and knocking her back into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and now we’ll move onto republishing chapter 2.


	2. The Laboratory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby finds herself in a laboratory, being experimented on with a weird drug that burns. Years pass by but she doesn't remember a thing from any of the times she sat in the metal chair.  
> Can she escape? Or will she carry on being a captive? What is the drug she continues to be injected with throughout 8 years?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here’s chapter 2 again. It has been edited so you may or may not want to read it again.
> 
> Enjoy the chapter guys :)

"So, this is the child of the infamous, Silver Reaper. Spitting image of her. I want her in my lab in ten minutes, do not keep me waiting," a voice of a man Ruby did not recognise ordered. 

"Yes, Sir!" another two voices said. 'Where am I?' the young girl thought, slowly coming back to consciousness. 

Shuffling feet came closer as the first voice said "Don't forget to put the collar on. We do not know what she has learnt yet." The voice paused then continued, "Best to be safe than sorry." The voice sounded gruff and stressed.

The door clicked shut and shuffling feet came closer again along with the sound of metal clanging together. She felt herself being propped up against a cold hard surface. The clang of metal could be heard again as it was pressed to her throat. Before the metal collar could be shut around her neck, Ruby flung her arm out at the nearest person's throat. Her eyes shooting open as she grabbed for one of them, managing to grasp at one of the men's throat. She squeezed, hard. The mans eyes rolled into the back of his head, losing oxygen fast. 

The other man tried to grab Ruby's arm but was shocked when he found his arm in an unnatural position. He screamed in terror as the pain and realisation came flooding through his mind and body.

"AHHHHH! YOU FUCKING BITCH!" the man yelled, anger taking over the pain. He used his other arm to quickly clasp the metal collar on the young girl. Ruby, still having a hold on the other man, let go as she felt him go limp. 

The man slumped to the floor, not moving a muscle. A charged electric shock went through the collar and thus through Ruby. The shock was so intense, her body couldn't handle it all at once. The world went dark as she was knocked unconscious once again.

The remaining man called for another guard to the white walled cell, then him and the other guard dragged the unconscious girl through the corridors and into another pristine white-walled room. The same man from earlier, now wearing a white lab coat looked up from his work, noticing the limp unconscious body of Ruby.

"What happened?" He inquired, eyeing the man and the young girl. "And where is your partner?" the man questioned.

"He's currently lying on the floor of her cell, Sir. The little bitch strangled him before we could put the collar on, Sir." the guard with the unnaturally twisted arm explained. "She also, somehow, broke my arm and twisted it around."

"Well go and get it seen to. I'll handle her from here," the man in the lab coat ordered whilst getting someone else's attention. "Wipe her memory of everything after we do the first experiment."

With that said, Ruby's eyes shot open again. Blinking a few times to adjust to the new lighting in the room. She set her eyes on the man in the lab coat. The man also wore black trousers and black formal shoes. A black and orange striped tail protruded from the bottom of his back. Black and orange ears protruding out of the top of his head. Twitching every so often as his tale swished about, seemingly, on its own. 

Ruby inspected the other man. His arm was in an unnatural position. The man had a helmet on, so his facial expressions were hidden behind it. He wore dark blue and grey armour from head to toe. No tail, ears, antlers, claws or anything animalistic on him. He was human whereas the man in the lab coat was a faunus. The other guard stood kept a strong grip on her.

The man in blue and grey armour noticed Ruby's staring, "Sir, she's awake."

"Ah, good. Now we can begin. Put her in the chair please." The faunus said, rather bluntly. A smile creeped across his face as he turned to look at Ruby. She was placed in a metal chair and instantly strapped in. Her arms, legs, head and body were restrained. She struggled against the metal the restraints. To no avail, she gave up as the faunus in the lab coat chuckled at her attempts. 

The carnivorous faunus stepped closer, smiling like a maniac, "Let us start," he simply said. 

Ruby weakly piped up, "Who are you and what do you want?" She might have been seven years old but she was smart enough to know asked questions. The faunus stepped forward and raised his hand. Ruby shut her eyes, preparing to be slapped. 

A loud crack resonated throughout the laboratory. Ruby's cheek now red and swelling at the painful impact. Her eyes starting to tear up. "You do not speak unless spoken to!" the faunus roared. Ruby winced at the raised voice. "I ask you the questions, not the other way around!" he roared again, Ruby was now crying. 

"Understood?" he more than ordered than asked. "Y...yes," the crying girl meekly said. "Good." He replied, half smiling that malicious smile again.

With that, the striped faunus picked a syringe of strange blue liquid from the small table next to her. He added a four-inch needle to the end of it. Now pressing the end of it to her inner elbow, she struggled against the restraints again but they wouldn't budge. The faunus just pushed the needle into her arm, causing her to wince in pain. He didn't stop inserting the needle until an inch was left on the needle. Ruby squeezed her eyes shut, trying to stop more tears from flooding her eyes. He slowly pressed the other end of the syringe, the blue liquid entering the young girls blood stream.

A burning sensation instantly travelled into her hand and up her arm. She screamed at the immense pain as it then travelled through her chest to her other arm and into her stomach. She screamed louder as it travelled down to her legs and feet. Her vision started to blur, her voice cracking as she felt the burning sensation travel up her neck and into her head. She struggled once again against the restraints earning her another slap across the face. 

Falling silent and slipping into the arms of unconsciousness she heard the faunus man order, "Wipe her memory and take her to her cell." She felt another needle stick into her other arm. She fell completely unconscious as the new liquid flowed through her veins and into her head.

***  
It had been seven years since Ruby had been kidnapped. She sat in the metal chair, the restraints holding her much stronger than before. But she didn't remember anything. She didn't remember who she was and what she was doing here. At the start of the experimenting on this day, she asked what they wanted and why she was here. But the man with a striped tail slapped her; hard. Flashes of memories she couldn't remember ran through her mind. It was always of the man with the lab coat hitting her or poking a needle into her arm. But as soon as the memories appeared, they disappeared not long after.

"It's working! It's finally working!" The voice of the stripy tailed man said gleefully. A voice Ruby didn't recognise again. She kept slipping in and out of consciousness as a burning pain engulfed her body. She was subconsciously screaming from the pain. Finally, the pain subsided only for a new pain to surge through her body. 

The fourteen-year-old's fingernails now splitting and growing into large sharp, pointed claws. She screamed harder at the new pain. Now her head began to throb as two new protrusions slowly grew out of it. She screamed and screamed as fluffy black ears tipped with red grew out of her head. 

She felt like her head was going to explode. Another new pain interrupted that one, emanating from her lower back. She writhed and struggled against the stronger restraints. To no avail, the metal kept her restrained. A new protrusion came in the form of a tail. The pain of the new growths becoming unbearable, her vision blurred more as she was injected with another needle. Unconsciousness' arms opening wide again ready for her to embrace.

Another week passed by. When Ruby was in her cell, she was either unconscious or fully awake; wondering who she was and why she was here and where she was. But this time the  
fourteen-year-old sat in the metal chair once again. Of course, she didn't remember her previous encounters with the chair or even the man-beast before her. 

Her mostly black, red tipped tail swished about impatiently. The animalistic man in front of her starting to annoy her with his rambling. She gave a low but threatening growl to the man-beast who in turn raised and swung his fist, hitting her in the right cheek. She had many bruises, cuts and scars scattered across her body as though she'd been beaten multiple times. She paid no mind to the injuries as another one was just inflicted. 

The new injury just made her growl louder. 'I'm gonna kill this cunt when I get out of this!' she thought whilst fighting back her rage.

A growl erupted from the man-beast as he swung again, hitting the other side of her face. The second hit proved to be too strong for the metal restraints on her forehead. The metal momentarily squealed as her head was now loose. 

The fluffy eared girl smiled maliciously as the man-beast went to swing again, intending to knock her unconscious. The beasts fist hit metal as she narrowly dodged the large fist. She lunged her head towards the arm and bit down, causing the man in the lab coat to scream in pain. He tried to retract his arm but ended up with the flesh of it being torn off. 

"AHHH FUCK! SEDATE HER NOW AND WIPE HER MEMORY!" the black and orange striped man roared. As Ruby heard those words she immediately began to struggle against the restraints, this time breaking her left arm free. Her aura had sky rocketed to new levels. She felt so strong at this moment. It's like whatever they were injecting her with had given her more aura than she had before. 

Swiping at the person with the two needles, she broke her right arm out with an almighty tug. Both arms now free, she swiped and clawed at anyone that got too close, her tail keeping anyone off her back. Seeing everyone around her hesitate, she pulled the chest restraint, making the metal groan under the new pressure. Swiping at the people trying to make an advance again, she managed to break her right leg out, leaving a large red mark across her shin. 

The injured man-beast wide-eyed as she finally broke free roared once again, "FUCKING SEDATE HER!" He gave up on trying to get someone else to do it and grabbed the needle, "Give it here you, useless shit!" 

Before he could make an advancement on Ruby, she had disappeared in a flurry of red rose petals, appearing behind the man-beast. She pulled her arm back and flung it forward with such force, her hand went through his chest. His heart was now being held in front of his face as she ripped it out. He took one final gasp of air and one final attempt at sedating her. 

Swinging around and injecting her with the fluid filled needle, pushing down on the end. Halfway through, the animalistic girl chomped down on his throat; then viciously ripped it out. He slumped to the ground in a pile, crimson red blood spreading across the once pristine white floor. All of this happened within seconds and nobody could move fast enough to stop the death of the laboratory leader.

As soon as the striped man fell, the others converged on her, some holding anything they could find as a weapon and others with nothing to fight back with. 

'Shit!' she thought. 'How do I do that thing I did before?' she asked herself. 

Starting to go dizzy she thought, 'Oh well, it doesn't matter. They're all going to die anyway.' That said, well rather thought, she zipped between everyone, sinking her claws or teeth to slice and rip out throats. Blood gushing everywhere. The white room now sprayed in crimson red. She stopped and eyed the last person, he wasn't doing anything to threaten her but he still had to die.

Before she could kill him however l, she felt a sharp scratch to her neck. Putting her hand up to her to feel what had hit her, she realised she'd just been darted. 'Well, fuck,' She thought before collapsing. Starting to slip into unconsciousness once again, she heard a new voice. "She's ready. Wipe her memory of everything. Dress her in the designated clothing, give her the sniper-scythe and dump her far away from here." The voice sounded so far away but so close like she could grab a hold of the person speaking those words. "Don't forget the scroll with everything she'll need on it as well." the voice spoke again as she delved deeper into a dark abyss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed the chapter and now we’ll move onto republishing chapter 3. Although I think it needs some minor editing done to it so please bare with. 
> 
> Happy reading everyone


	3. Blooming Crimson Reaper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby awakes from a slumber that felt like eternal rest. She fights against the creatures of Grimm and discovers something she'd long forgotten about.  
> What did she discover about herself?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so here’s the updated version of chapter 3. I edited it on Wattpad first and then just copied and pasted it. Sounds simple enough doesn’t it? Not exactly. It’s quite tedious but it’s my own fault for deleting the bloody story from off here.
> 
> Anyways, I’ll stop rambling. Enjoy the new updated chapter 3.

A week had passed since Ruby had awoken from a slumber that felt like an eternity. She kept asking herself 'Who am I?' She couldn't remember who she was or what she was. How old she was and where she was. Thankfully she had a device on her that explained all those questions to her and much more. Leaving out the parts of being a Reaper. A legendary warrior with extra abilities. It explained the Grimm and what species there were. It also explained that she was something called a faunus. A wolf faunus to be precise. A rarity amongst the faunus kind. The device, called a scroll also had details on how she couldn't remember anything. Saying her family were attacked by Grimm sent by some unknown force that killed her parents and siblings. She had been 'rescued' by a human family and raised but they were also killed by the Grimm. 

Of course, it was all bullshit but what else could Ruby believe? She hunted day and night for Grimm and occasionally completed an assigned contract to take out any potential human or Faunus threats. 

The scroll she was given explained her weapon which was a high velocity sniper-scythe that used .50 calibre bullets. The weapon easily folded out into its scythe function and just as easily folded away into its sniper form for easier transportation.

The young faunus wore a black long sleeve dress with a high collar and red trim on the sleeves. Accompanied by a black corset with red lacing up the front and around her skirt, sported more red trimming. In her feet she wore a pair of thick black stockings and black, heavy combat boots with red laces and red trim around the top with red bottoms. Topping off the teenagers looks she wore a red hooded cloak fastened to her shoulders with purposely wonky cross pins. A large silver broach in the shape of a rose was pinned to her wide black belt that hung on her hips at an angle. .50 calibre bullets lined the belt, protruding out of it.

Fluffy black ears with red tips protruded from the girl's head whilst a mostly black, red tipped tail swished about on her lower back. Dagger like claws protruded from her fingertips, where normal nails would be. Ruby had tried to wear wear gloves to cover them so she's stop scratching herself. And of course her claws always ripped through the tips of the gloves. 

Silver eyes impatiently looked at the scroll in one of her clawed hand. She was waiting for a message from her 'employer'.

Bzzzzzzz. 'Finally,' the faunus girl thought as her scroll signalled a new notification. She pressed on the screen several times to get the message up. Unfortunately, the screen wasn't liking her claws very much. She still hadn't learnt how to retract them yet and had difficulty to do anything with them.

Growling in frustration, she was about to throw the scroll on the ground but as she raised her arm to throw it, her claws retracted. The young Faunus slowly brought her arm back down and inspected her fingertips.

Shrugging her shoulders she proceeded to open the message to look at her new assignment. It read, 'Kill the two Taijitu Grimm in the local forest of Patch. Kill the pack of six Beowolves in the same forest. Do not fail.'

"As if I'll fail at something so easy," she said aloud to herself.

Currently, Ruby was leaning against a large tree in the forest of a place called Patch. Something seemed familiar about it, but she wasn't certain what it was. As she stared at the scroll in hand, a low growl behind a nearby bush could be heard. Thanks to Ruby's faunus ears she picked it up. Her ears twitched as another low growl emanated from the bush. This is time, it was closer. 

'Death,' Ruby thought as she sniffed the air. She grabbed her sniper-scythe and unfolded it with a clunk and a grinding noise as the source of the growling pounced at her from the bush. She swiftly dodged its large claws aimed at her head. A flurry of rose petals were left behind as she appeared behind the Grimm. 'A Beowolf. Probably the runt. The runts are always the decoys,' the young faunus thought as she swung her scythe to its side, sinking the sharp end into its left side. She pulled the trigger on the sniper part, cutting the beast in half. As soon as it disappeared another two appeared behind her; making their presence clear as they growled maliciously.

The young faunus swung her sniper-scythe around and caught the clawed paw of one in its tracks. Bursting into a flurry of rose petals and reappearing in front of the other one, she jumped high and swung at its head, pulling the trigger again to gain momentum to cleanly behead it: which she accomplished with ease.

She somehow knew how to fight and defend herself. It was like her body knew what to do before she could think of what to do. Like she'd learned to fight but couldn't remember it, like it was all muscle memory.

The Beowolf that was left, howled loudly, as if to call backup. Within minutes, another four Beowolves surrounded the young girl. "Seriously!?" she growled out angrily. The Grimm simultaneously charged and swiped at her. Narrowly dodging three of the four. The fourth catching her on the side of her stomach. Gritting her teeth, she swung at the fourth, the biggest of the four. It blocked her swing and instantaneously swung its other clawed paw. 

She had no choice but to burst into rose petals once again. Her aura was starting to run low after being struck by the Beowolf's claws, and her aura blocking most of the blow. 

She reappeared above another smaller Beowolf on a tree branch. Jumping down, she swung her scythe back and then forward, slicing the Grimm in half; its corpse evaporating instantly. Rose petals drifted gently to the ground as she flew by another Beowolf, swinging her scythe at the same time, cutting another one in half. All that was left was the bigger of the four and another smaller Grimm. 

Thinking it was a good idea, the young faunus charged the smaller beast, focusing on it completely. That was a big mistake on her part.

The larger of the two Grimm charged at her and swung its giant paw, striking her from the air. Ruby narrowly blocked the blow and felt her grip loosen on her weapon. The sniper-scythe hit the ground with a clang, the younger girl rolling on the ground and standing up in one swift motion.

The young faunus was now weaponless but not defenceless. She protracted her claws and took a stance, looking between the too beasts. If she didn't kill the bigger one first, the smaller one would just interfere and kill her when her aura had ran out, but if she killed the smaller one first the bigger Grimm would swipe her out of the air again and then kill her. She needed to lure one away and then deal with the other afterwards.

Before she could decide, the smaller of the two charged. She jumped as high as she could over the top of the Grimm and landed behind it. As she passed over the smaller Grimm, she sunk her own claws into the unarmored part of its back. The Beowolf turned swiftly to fight the young faunus back but she wasn't there. 

Instead she had farted into the air using her semblance .The beast looked around helplessly as Ruby made her quick descent back down, landing directly onto its back. The Grimm momentarily froze in place, then realised the young girl was about to sink her claws into its head. It began to thrash about but as soon as Ruby's claws were deep into its head, it froze in place; paralysed.

Now that the beast wasn't moving, the young girl felt something tugging at her mind. No, her soul. 

She let the feeling wash over her and soon found new energy flowing into her. It was amazing but it was dark and chaotic. It was full of hatred and agony of those the Grimm had killed. 

Once the young faunus was satisfied she'd killed the Grimm with whatever this new ability was, she hopped down from its back. The larger Beowolf stood away, watching carefully and silently. 

She walked around to face the beast and saw its eyes flickering. The last thing the smaller Beowolf saw was of the young faunus girl's eyes flashing red. 

The Grimm disappeared without a trace as the bigger of the two stood, frozen like a stone statue. The young faunus felt so energised she dashed to her weapon using her semblance, picking it up as she flew passed it. 

Straightening out, she noticed the other Grimm, just standing there. She walked up to the huge beast expecting it to attack, but for some reason, it didn't. It lowered its head and whimpered like a puppy after it had been scolded. 

'Hmmm. I could either kill it or take it as a pet. Ah fuck it. May as well kill it.' Ruby thought you herself as she looked the large Grimm over. 

After that thought, she swung her scythe directly to its head, decapitating it without hesitation.

As the dead Grimm evaporated into nothingness, she grabbed for her scroll, then remembered her claws. Protracting them without a second thought, she brought the assignment up once again and typed out "completed" even though she had more work to do.

As she turned the screen off, she caught sight of her own eyes in the screen and turned the camera on to take a closer look.

'Interesting...' she thought as the eyes that looked back were no longer silver. But the eyes of the creatures of Grimm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To tell you the truth, I added things and took things out. It should make a little more sense but it still sounds like a 10 year old had written it. (No offence to any 10 year old writers xD). If you see any errors, do let me know in the comments and I’ll correct them when I can.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed, see you when I’ve edited and published chapter 4. :)


	4. Assassinate Roman Torchwick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby receives a contract to Assassinate Roman Torchwick. Will she succeed? Or will someone get involved?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this has some minor edits. I’ve added some things and taken some things out so it might actually make more sense. 
> 
> New and old readers, please enjoy and if you want please join the discord server. Follow me on tumblr (rwbyfan1997) and message me for a link to it. Thank you and happy reading

A year later

Ruby Rose now understood her extra abilities after that fateful battle between the Beowolves and herself. Every time her employer sent her out on a Grimm hunt, she practiced ways to absorb the dark, destructive energy of the Grimm and how to release it back out into the world. She figured out it could be used against humans, faunus and Grimm. After trial and error she learnt to turn Grimm into stone but she couldn't use that against humans or faunus. She also learned to use the dark energy as a secondary aura bank, giving her much more power and healing abilities in return.

The extra abilities were mainly used against the Grimm as using it against anything but proved to be almost impossible. She could harm a human or a faunus but she couldn’t use lethal force against them. 

Between the Grimm hunts she did, she also had the odd job of either abducting someone, capturing a wanted criminal or assassinating someone that wasn't needed in Remnant any longer.

With the carnage she tended to leave behind from just having fun, the public had dubbed her the Crimson Reaper. She didn't know why but that nickname made her happy. Filling her with something she hadn't had for a long time; a sense of completion.

The young wolf faunus was currently awaiting a message on her scroll to appear. Awaiting her new job to come through.

Just as she was about to give up, her scroll buzzed. Signalling a new message and a new contract job. Pulling it back out of her pocket, she clicked on the message making it appear on the screen.

'New Contract-'

'Type- Search and destroy'

'Target- Roman Torchwick'

'Objective- Hunt down the target and kill him with any means necessary. Do not get caught by the authorities.'

The young girl sighed heavily at the new assassination contract. This one was going to be hard. 

The scroll buzzed again as another message appeared, 'Go to Vale, he will be there. Do not fail.'

"Give me a break will ya. Jeez," the girl sighed to herself.

After receiving the assignment, Ruby immediately headed to Vale; catching a bullhead to get there. It didn’t take her long to get there and try to find the place she needed to be at. 

'God, everything looks the same around here,' the red cloak clad girl thought to herself. As she walked throughout Downtown Vale, she held a poster up of Roman Torchwick she'd found and asked random people if they knew of him and if there had been any rumours of his whereabouts. Unluckily, she was turned down by everyone.

She came across a shady individual down an alleyway. She stopped a couple of meters in front of him and showed the poster of her target. "Do you know where I can find this man?" she asked.

The man looked at her, unfazed at the face on the poster and simply said, "Follow me." The young girl hesitated until the shady individual turned around and said "Look, kid, if you wanna find him, I know someone that has the information you need. Now follow me."

With that said, she followed. Walking a couple of meters behind him through dark alleyways, her hood pulled over her head. Eventually, they turned a corner and ended up a few hundred yards away from what looked like a nightclub. A bouncer stood at the front, slowly letting customers in. 

Looking up at the neon sign it read, 'Juniors'. Ruby turned to the shady individual and asked, "What now?"

The man just rolled his eyes and replied, "Go up to the bouncer and ask for Junior. If he doesn't let you in, just punch him and walk in."

"Thanks." Ruby replied, turning away only to turn back again and ask, "Who are you?" But before she could get the whole question out, she realised he was gone. 'Huh, okay then,' the young girl thought. 

Walking up to the bouncer at the door with her hood still pulled up, her tail tucked comfortably under her cloak she simply said, "I need to talk with Junior,"

The bouncer looked at her like she'd turned into some sort of alien and scoffed out, "Sorry kid, but I'm pretty sure you're too young to be in here."

The young girl chuckled and grabbed his outstretched hand. Her claws on display for only him to see. "I'd let me in if I were you," the wolf faunus looked up and let the shocked bouncer see just one blood red eye before letting him go.

A look of terror crossed his face along with anger and then back to fear. He stepped aside and opened the door to the club.

The young girl looked very out of place, one because she was only fifteen and two because she still had her hood up and crimson cloak wrapped around her.

She made her way to the bar, earning her a few odd looks. Getting to the bar she sat down on a stool and waited to be served.

"Aren't you a little too young to be in here, kid?" A gruff, tired voice spoke up, gaining Ruby's attention to where it had come from.

"I need to speak with a guy named, Junior," she said not holding back on the truth. "I need information on the whereabouts of someone," she explained. 

"Who's asking and what's the information for?" the bloke inquired wearily.

"I'm asking and I can't tell you." She simply put, now getting impatient with the man. The man was rather shocked at the girls replies but recovered quickly and asked another question, "Who are you looking for?"

"Roman Torchwick," the young cloaked faunus replied, irritation evident in her tone.

"Follow me," the man simply said, walking to the end of the bar and out the other side. Ruby got off the stool and followed.

Half an hour past as Ruby walked out of the nightclub in a much better mood after getting the information she needed. She made her way to a dust shop called 'From Dust til' Dawn'. The man she had spoken with was in fact Junior and had given her the information needed to take down Torchwick. At a price of course. Luckily, she had thousands of Lien from her previous assassination contracts. Oum knows why she got paid to these things when she was pretty sure they were a shady company. 

Looking at her scroll for the time, she realised it to be too early to begin her mission, so she stopped off at café for a coffee not far from the mission location. It was only 7:32pm. She had a while to wait.

Three hours later and 4 cups of coffees, it was time for her to assassinate Torchwick. 

Climbing up the side of a building she crouched into position and looked down the scope of her snipe-scythe. It being in its sniper form, she looked around the dust shop ready for anything to happen. She continued to scope the area until a white van pulled up in the front of the dust shop. 

Five men wearing the same attire got out. They all wore black suits with red ties and white shirts along with black shades and a black top hats. 

'Why do I recognise those men?' Ruby asked herself when a new figure stepped out of the van. 'Roman Torchwick!' the girl exclaimed within her thoughts. Her target wore red trimmed bowler hat that had a small feather poked out of the red trimming. His ginger hair putting him well out of place amongst the others around him covered his right eye. With what Ruby could make out he wore a red lined white suit with long black pants and black shoes. His accessories included a small grey scarf and black gloves too. 

Thanks to Ruby's extra sensitive faunus hearing she could make out what was being said. She decided not to take the shot as she wanted to see how this robbery played out. So, she watched and waited. 

The dust shop was still open as Roman and his goons walked through the door. Now she couldn't hear what was going on but kept her position. The young faunus caught sight of one of the henchman walking over to the dust cannisters with a tube in hand. Lining up the shot, breathing deeply up through her nose and slowly out of her mouth, she pulled the trigger.

'Bullseye!' the young girl thought excitedly as the henchman’s body slumped to the ground and his brains were sprayed up the wall next to him.

Folding out Crescent Rose into its scythe form she said to no one in particular, "Slicey dicey time." 

A predatory smile spread across her face as she jumped off the roof and burst into a flurry of red rose petals; landing a few meters in front of the shop. Her hood still up, she waited for the others to notice her and come out of the shop. 

Finally, someone noticed, "Er...Sir? We have company," one henchman said looking rather surprised at the cloaked girl outside the shop.

"A robbery always has its drawbacks," Roman huffed, now looking at Ruby as well. "Well, get her!" He ordered the men who instantly ran outside the shop to face a bloody certain death. 

Two of the goons held some sort of baton whilst the other three aimed some sort of rifle at the young faunus. Flaring her aura slightly as the henchman opened fire and the other two ran around her, the young faunus activated her semblance and appeared behind one of them. Swinging her scythe around, she cut right through him; his face of pure terror as his upper body slid slowly off his lower body, blood spurting out as the two parts hit the ground. 

Bullets skimmed across her aura as the other men opened fire again. Bursting into rose petals once more, she reappeared next the other baton wielder and placed her hand on his shoulder. Immediately after, he exploded. His body parts flying in all directions, organs included. There wasn’t much to recognise him from. 

The gun wielders looked at the scythe wielder in utter terror and fired upon her once again. Flaring her aura a little more to stop the bullets from piercing her skin, she walked to the henchman with a cocky, malicious smile whilst hanging her scythe off her shoulders. 

One henchman dropped his gun and ran as fast as he could in fear causing Ruby to chuckle to herself. 

By now the henchman’s guns had ran out of ammo, unfortunately for them. Bursting into a red blur, she landed on the wall of the dust shop horizontally. The crimson girl pushed off the wall and fired her sniper, pushing her forward quickly. Instantaneously slicing through the two men that still remained in position; both not realising what had just happened. 

Now covered in blood, she pivoted on her foot only to see Roman on a roof making his way to an airship.

"FUUUUCK!" Ruby yelled. She took aim at Roman, her scythe now back in sniper form. Breathing in through her nose and slowly out of her mouth, she fired the shot only to miss by millimetres. 

Growling at her first missed shot, she burst into a red blur once again and landed on the roof. She aimed again at Roman and fired. The bullet hit his leg as he tried to climb aboard the airship. 

Without realising, a shadowed women appeared at the airships side doors. The said woman fired off a ball of fire. Ruby froze in place. Lucky for her, a robust blonde woman stepped in front of the girl and effectively blocked the blast, directing it elsewhere. The force behind the blocked attack blowing Ruby's hood off, showing a young wolf faunus with blood red eyes.

Another barrage of fireballs flew at the pair on the roof as Roman climbed into the airship and took the pilots seat.

The robust blonde redirected the blasts again as four glowing circles appeared under them. Ruby activated her semblance and knocked the blonde woman to the side and out of harms way. The blasts shook the building as they went off, Ruby being caught in the blast.

The blonde recovered quickly and noticed the young girl standing back up, even after the blasts. Ruby looked to the blonde, clearly very pissed off.

"Keep her off me for a minute," Ruby requested. The woman just nodded and got back into her previous position and blocked or redirected more blasts. 

Next the blonde woman used her semblance to pick debris up and turn them into ice shards, firing them at the woman on the airship. The ship was moved just in time and the shards flew over the top, grazing the air vehicle’s exterior.

Meanwhile, Ruby had taken a stance, he lr blood red eyes shining bright as she poured her aura and Grimm energy into her next attack. She had to finish this now or lose her chance of killing her target. 

Black and red tinted energy engulfed her arms as she powered up the destructive energy of the Grimm she had stored away. She stepped forward and said, "I'm ready, I'd move if I were you." The blonde woman moved but stared at the girl, shocked at what she was seeing.

Ruby's arm fully engulfed with the energy, pointed it at the airship. She let out a deep breath and her eyes shone bright red as she let the energy turn into one blast of pure destruction and let it go when it’s power peaked to maximum. Darkness momentarily shrouded the rooftop. The blast was somehow redirected by the shadowed woman as she shouted, "GO!"

The ship turned and blasted off full throttle before the darkness dissipated. Ruby's vision now going blurry as the robust blonde stared, wide-eyed. 

"Fuck..." Ruby muttered before falling into the arms of the dark abyss called unconscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that marks the end of the edited chapter 4. I apologise you all had to wait for this edit as I didn’t feel like doing anything yesterday. Like at all. I’ll try getting to chapter 5 as soon as I can and get that republished on here.
> 
> Thanks guys and happy reading! :)


	5. The Offer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby wakes in a room with a table. The robust blonde not too far away. A man enters and offers her something she can't refuse otherwise, she faces prison or death. What will she do?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor edits done but it’s mostly the same. Should make a little more sense at least.   
> I’ll you all get reading.  
> Enjoy.

Ruby woke with a start as a nightmare dissipated back into her subconscious. A firm hand pushed her back down as she tried to sit up. Blinking a few times, the young wolf faunus saw she was in some sort of dimly lit room. A table with chairs on either side situated in the middle of the room. The still half asleep faunus was currently laying on a springy mattress, her wrists and ankles in cold metal cuffs. She tried to pull them apart but found her aura being drained, leaving her weak and groggy.

Looking to her left, she notices the robust blonde from the rooftop standing over her with her arm slightly extended. Said woman spoke as she glared at the young restrained girl, "Don't even think of trying to escape. Those cuffs are on for a reason, but I am not the one to go through why."

Ruby stared at the woman before she smirked and said, "You do know, I could kill you even with these cuffs on, right?"

The robust blonde sighed, "You wouldn't get very far," to emphasise her point, the older woman flicked a wand-like object, activating her telekinetic semblance in the process. Ruby felt her body squish against the springy mattress. Her body paralyzed with the telekinetic force. 

"That is enough Glynda," a male voice rang out behind the older woman. As soon as she heard those words, she let Ruby out of her semblances grasp. The woman called Glynda then moved to the side so Ruby could see the person who spoke. 

A man with greying hair and spectacled brown eyes came into view. His attire consisted of an unbuttoned suit blazer, a buttoned-up vest and green shirt. Along with black shoes and dark green pants. 

Ruby notices the man holding a plate and a mug with something written on it. It read, 'Beacon Academy.' 

The grey-haired man began walking, taking a few strides to the table and putting the plate and mug on it. After picking something up from the table, he wearily walked over to the young faunus girl.

"Sit up," he commanded but not in a stern tone but a soft one. Ruby did as she was told, which kind of surprised her. She didn't take orders from anyone apart from the person who gave her the contracts. 

"So, who are you and what do you want?" the brunette questioned, staring at the grey-haired man who in turn just stared back. "First of all, I am the Headmaster of Beacon Academy, Professor Ozpin and this," he motioned to the blonde woman, "is Professor Goodwitch. Secondly, I want to know how such a young, adorable girl learned how to fight with one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed," the ageing man half questioned whilst staring Ruby down. He leaned in towards the young girl's face and stated, "You... have silver eyes."

The young girl rose her brow and said, "No shit. And to answer your question, I don't know how I'm able to fight with that weapon. I just know." This caused both adults in the room to raise their eyebrows, surprised and concerned at the answer.

"What do you mean, you just know how to fight?" Professor Goodwitch questioned with a confused look on her face, eyebrows now furrowed.

"Exactly what I said. I just know how to fight and wield my weapon. It's like muscle memory but I have no memory of training or anything, so I just know." Ruby explained, still not convincing the two adults.

"I know someone else that fights like this with a similar weapon. A dusty old crow," the headmaster motioned his head towards a tablet now displaying Ruby's fight with Roman and the henchman. "Apart from the last attack of course. No one else has that ability and I haven't seen it for a very long time." Professor Ozpin continued then looked into Ruby's silver eyes, thinking and trying to find anything that could signal any sort of deceit. 

The ageing headmaster gave up and looked towards Goodwitch, the blonde giving him a concerned look. Ruby just stared at them both, confusion swarming her mind and face. 

The old headmaster looked back towards the silver-eyed girl and thought for a moment before hesitantly asking, "Have you... ever thought or even felt like there is something missing from you?"

Ruby pondered on the question and figured she did indeed always feel like something was missing. Something that she should remember. Something that she loved and cared for like there was a hole in her heart and mind. The only thing to fill that void was fighting. 

"I do feel like something is missing. How did you know?" Ruby asked, more confused than ever. 

Professor Ozpin looked at the young girl and started to explain, "Because, Miss Rose, I have a feeling I know why. I also have a feeling I know exactly who you were," the ageing headmaster breathed in before continuing, "I know you are a contract killer called Crimson Reaper, I am not sure who for though." The young wolf faunus growled lowly but not unheard as the headmaster had figured out who she is.

One thing did confuse her though, what did he mean by he thinks he knows who she was? Before she could ask and still growling, Glynda activated her telekinetic semblance, squeezing Ruby's throat with an invisible hand. A yelp rang out from Ruby's mouth as she was being strangled by the invisible but strong force. Her wolf ears flattening on the top of her head. The robust blonde glared and said, "You do not growl at the headmaster." 

"Glynda, let go please?" the ageing headmaster ordered more than requested. The blonde huffed and reluctantly let Ruby breath again. The young girl took in a deep breath before growling and glaring at Glynda. Who in turn continued to glare at the younger female.

"Could you two please stop?" the headmaster said, annoyance laced in his voice. Ruby looked away from the blonde and looked at the Beacon Headmaster. Instantly regretting looking at him. She whined as the man's expression was one of anger. For some reason, she didn't like it when she saw someone angry. Especially men. It always made her cower with fright at just the sight of an angry man. The fear always foiled within her stomach, making her feel emptier than she’d ever felt. 

The man's facial expression softened as he sighed. "I'm sorry Miss Rose, I did not mean to scare you," he said, noticing that Ruby was cowering. Her ears flattened, shoulders and arms tensed and her toes curling under her feet and her tail tucked between her legs. 

Professor Ozpin looked at her with concern before asking, "How about some cookies, Miss Rose?" Instantly the cookie lover perked up at the mention of delicious sugary treat. "Y...yes p...please," she hesitantly said. Ozpin looked over to Glynda and wordlessly motioned for her to grab the plate from the table. She did just that and handed them to Ozpin who offered the whole plate to cookie loving Reaper.

She looked at it eagerly and hesitantly reached her hand out for one. Ozpin chuckled and said, "They're all yours." That said, Ruby took the plate and began scoffing the cookies, finishing them in minutes. 

Ozpin chuckled again as he took the empty plate from the satisfied teenager. 

"Come sit at the table please?" he requested, walking towards one of the chairs and taking a seat.

Ruby slid off the side of the bed, straightening herself out as she stood up. She went to take a stride and tripped over. She had forgotten about the ankle restraints and fell face-first onto the floor. The wrist and ankle restraints were connected halfway down so she couldn't use her hands to break the fall. There was an audible thud and slight cracking noise as she faceplanted the floor. 

The two adults in the room looked at her in concern. Ozpin’s expression turned to one of amusement and strolled over to the young girl, intending on helping her to her feet. 

She groaned as she got to knees and stayed in a kneeling position. "Ouch," she muttered to herself as she noticed blood pouring out of her nose. "Greeeat. Broke my nose faceplanting the floor," she thought to herself, audibly groaning in pain. 

The scythe wielder heard a chuckle come from her left. She looked up and saw Ozpin standing there with an amused look on his face, an arm extending towards her. "Do you need help getting up, Miss Rose?" he chuckled again as Ruby's facial expressions went from anger to sadness to an amused look then a confused one. 

The girl didn't like admitting she needed help, even in the worst of situations but she surprised herself again when she said, "Yes. Please." Sputtering blood from her mouth that had dribbled onto her lips as she said it.

Ozpin walked behind her and put his hands under her pits and pulled her up onto her feet. He then walked back around to the front of Ruby and took a key out of his pocket. He knelt and unlocked the ankle restraints then stood back up to unlock the wrist restraints. He paused with the key a couple of millimetres away from the keyhole and said, "Do you promise not to do anything rash if I take these off?"

Ruby thought for a moment before nodding. He seemed nice enough not to kill. The blonde woman was a different story though. But she agreed nonetheless.   
The ageing headmaster proceeded to unlock the cuffs. They fell to the floor with a thunk.

Ozpin turned away and headed for his chair, sitting down seconds later. Motioning to the other chair he simply said, "Sit." Ruby obliged and sat down. She put a hand to her broken nose, feeling what damage had been done. Gripping her nose with her thumb and index finger, she set her nose back in place with an audible crack and winced as more pain shot through her face and more blood poured out. 

"Do you by any chance have a tissue?" she asked, her voice slightly lower in pitch. Glynda strolled forwards pulling a clean tissue out of a packet and handing it over to the bloody nosed girl. "Thanks," the girl said, smiling at the older woman in gratitude. She still didn’t particularly like the robust blonde.

"So," Ozpin spoke up, Ruby looked at him, "I have an offer to make you as I know you did not just assassinate people. You hunted and killed Grimm." The grey-haired headmaster paused for suspense before continuing, "You would make an excellent huntress and I would like to offer you a place to attend my academy. If you refuse, I will have to either kill you or hand you over to the police," he explained. Ruby stared, dumbfounded. She didn't know what to say or think. His threat to kill her didn't bother her but the offer did. 'Why would he want a killer like me at his school?' the girl thought now regaining control over her shock. 

Composing herself she asked just that, "Why would you want a killer like me at your school?"

He immediately replied, knowing she would ask such a question, "Because I think you could do a whole lot of good in the world. We may be in a time of peace, but we could hone and use the skills and ability you have to fight what is to come."

Now she was definitely confused and asked another question, "Why else do you want me in your school?" Ozpin pondered for a moment before replying, "Because of that inkling feeling of knowing who you were. I want to do some research and help you in any way I can."

The young scythe wielder thought for just a few seconds before finally accepting his offer. Not because she wanted help but because she didn't particularly want to die or go to prison. "I accept your offer, Headmaster. When do I start?"

"Tomorrow. Prepare yourself and get some rest. I have booked a hotel room for you for the night." The headmaster explained. 

'So, he knew I would accept the offer. That kinda pisses me off.'

"Have a good sleep, Miss Rose." He said, standing up to walk out.

She thought for a moment before standing up herself then it hit her, 'How does he know my name when I never told him it?'

"Wait!" she yelled as Ozpin was almost out of the door. He turned around and looked at the girl, "How do you know my name? I never actually told you." The young faunus said.

"It was just a guess. You look a lot like someone I used to know. Thankfully, you just confirmed your name. It will make my search easier." The ageing man explained and then turned around and left without another word.

Glynda was still in the room who spoke up, "I will escort you out and show you to the hotel you will be staying at," she turned around and started walking towards the door. Making it in a few large strides, she turned around and said, "Well, come on. I do not have all night." She turned back towards the door, expecting Ruby to follow, which she did. 

Keeping pace a step behind the blonde woman, she followed her out of the building and towards the hotel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Even if you’re reading it a second time. Let me know if there’s any errors then I can correct them. 
> 
> If you want, please join the discord server. Follow me on tumblr (rwbyfan1997) and message me for a link to the server.  
> Thanks guys. Happy reading :)


	6. Welcome to Beacon Academy Pt 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby starts at Beacon Academy. She meets someone she feels familiar with and meets a useless lesbian and accidentally head butts her (xD)  
> What could possibly go wrong?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor edits but it’s still the same as before. Well practically. Also, if you’re all wondering who keeps republishing these chapters, ‘tis I, rwbyfan97. I’m not sure if my editor/co-author would want to write any new chapters for this story. I’d have to ask her tbh.  
> Anyways, enjoy the chapter.

Ruby was currently on an airship to Beacon Academy. Her hood was up, covering her wolf ears and face. Her tail was tucked away neatly under her cloak in bindings to keep it from swishing about. She could not wait to take the damned thing off; uncomfortable was an understatement.

She wore black gloves to hide her scarred hands as well as her claws. The gloves being a gift from the Beacon Headmaster as she still couldn’t control when her claws protracted.

The girl's eyes had returned to their usual silver hue as she had blasted out every ounce the night before during the fight with shadowed woman on the roof.

Glancing around every so often at the other new students she thought, 'What have I gotten myself into?' 

Leaning against one of the large windows of the airship, she noticed a black-haired girl with a black bow on the top of her head, reading. Every so often the raven-haired girl would glance around at the other students. She glanced over to Ruby and noticed the crimson-clad girl was staring at her. 

Ruby was about to look away when she saw the girl's bow twitch ever so slightly. The crimson themed girl sniffed the air, pinpointing the other girl's scent. Confirming her suspicion of the girl. She was a cat faunus. The young wolf faunus simply nodded her head in acknowledgement of the other girl's identity being concealed. Ruby was the same so she couldn't really say anything. The raven-haired girl nodded back and immediately went back to her book.

Ruby continued watching the raven-haired girl with curiosity. A blonde-haired girl came into view walking up to the raven-haired girl. 

Ruby wanted to look away but continued to stare anyway, amused at how the raven-haired girl was now blushing a deep red. The blonde-haired girl turned to leave, and Ruby saw she was blushing a colour that would put her cloak to shame. The crimson-clad girl rolled her eyes before going back into her thoughts, 'Oum, help me. This is going to be looooong four years. How the hell am I supposed to’ Unfortunately she wasn't able to finish her train of thought as a scrawny blonde boy ran passed her, holding his mouth. 

Ruby watched him as he ran to an onboard trashcan and started vomiting into it. 

Ruby immediately thought, 'Vomit boy, heh. Lovely.' Before she knew it, someone started laughing next to her. She looked around and saw the blonde girl from before laughing like a madman. Or madwoman in this case. The girl was laughing way too hard for some unknown reason. Then it hit her like a tonne of bricks. She hadn't thought vomit boy like she thought, she had said it out loud.

Surprisingly, Ruby found herself smiling like an idiot; amused with how amused the blonde girl was. "Sorry, it's just the way you said it and the fact I don't think you meant to say it out loud," the blonde girl explained, still chuckling.

Ruby just rolled her eyes under her hood at the blonde. "The name's Yang. Yang Xiao Long," the blonde introduced herself, looking at Ruby with a smile.

"Cool. You're aren't going to try and hit on me, are you?" Ruby questioned, smirking under her hood at the other girl's visible discomfort. "Uh...n...no," Yang stuttered out, a blush forming on her cheeks.

The young wolf faunus went back to her own thoughts for a moment, asking a series of questions she didn't know the answers to, 'Why does this girl seem so familiar to me but not at the same time? Why do I feel so at ease around her and comfortable talking to her? It's strange, to say the least.'

Ruby heard yang clear her throat, realising she'd been ignoring the blonde for a good few minutes. "Sorry, I was just thinking about something," the crimson girl explained.

"What were you thinking about?" the blonde asked without a second thought.

"Well, how do I put this?" the younger girl asked herself, "Yeah erm...I don't know why or how but you seem familiar to me. Have we met before?" the blonde had a puzzled look on her face, clearly thinking when she suddenly said, "Yeah, you seem familiar to me too. You remind me of someone I used to know. Although," Yang leaned down towards Ruby's wolf ears that were still hidden underneath her hood and whispered, "she was human, not faunus."

'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!' the young faunus' mind went into overdrive. "Hey, calm down. I won't tell anyone. Trust me." This seemed to calm Ruby down. Surprising her again as she didn't exactly trust anyone. But something about this girl made Ruby trust her instantly.

Ruby calmed down, her mind no longer buzzing with thoughts on what she should do and maybe if she should kill the blonde when she was alone with her. Thankfully Ruby no longer thought of killing Yang.

"So...um...you never told me your name," Yang stated, pulling Ruby out of her thoughts again. The wolf faunus sighed and simply said, "Ruby." The crimson girl looked at the blonde and noticed a saddened look on her face. "What's the matter with you?" Ruby asked the older girl.

"I had a sister named Ruby. Ruby Rose. She was seven when she was taken away from me. She loved cookies, the colour red and loved planting new rose bushes with our mom. That was eight years ago." Yang explained, tears threatening to escape from her eyes. 

"I'm sorry you lost your sister. Do you know if she's alive?" that question from the faunus turned Yang into a bawling baby. 

"Wait a sec. Did you say your sister's name is Ruby Rose?" Ruby asked, feeling genuinely sorry for the blonde. "Y...yeah. Why?" Yang asked back.

"Well..." the crimson-clad girl hesitated a moment before continuing, "My name is Ruby Rose and I love cookies and roses," the younger girl instantly regretted her response as Yang's expression turned to one of anger. Her eyes a deep blood red. The blonde glared at Ruby and growled out, "Are you taking the fucking piss?" The blonde's hair began to flow freely and glow. 

Ruby activated her semblance as Yang swung her fist at the younger girl. Appearing at the opposite side of the airship in a flurry of red rose petals. Yang stared at the cloak clad girl, a look of shock on her face. Ruby stared back, confused at the girl's new reaction. 

"Ru...Ruby? I...is that really you?" the blonde girl burst into more tears, choking on her words.

By this time, the airship had landed at Beacon, a group of students stood on either side of the girls. Everyone had seen everything that had happened. 

"Please move to the side and exit the airship." A familiar voice said behind the left side of students. Ozpin,Goodwitch and two other male professors moved their way through the small crowd. All but Ozpin looked quite angry. Ozpin had a neutral expression on his face, holding a steaming mug of something in one hand and a cane in the other. 

"Can someone explain to me what in Remnant is happening here?" Goodwitch spoke first, Yang piped up through her tears, "She...she's my missing sister!"

The professors looked shocked at the statement. Apart from Ozpin who seemed to be just watching. "I think we need to take this to my office after the ceremony." Ozpin finally spoke up and added, "You two need to be at my office straight after the ceremony. Am I clear?" the headmaster said in a stern tone.

Glynda spoke up again, "Miss Rose, you go out first and head straight to the ceremony hall and you," she looked at the crying blonde, "Clean yourself up and head to the ceremony hall in ten minutes. You are both to stay away from each other until you see Professor Ozpin in his office." Her voice was firm and full of authority.

Ozpin had already disappeared out of the airship. All the other students had also vanished. Ruby made her way off the airship, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

The young faunus meandered her way across the courtyard, deep in thought. As she was so deep in thought, she collided with something or rather someone. A glimpse of white invaded her vision before she shut her eyes and turned her back towards the ground. Grabbing the white thing in the process and pulling them down with her.

A thud emanated throughout the courtyard, a yelp soon following after as someone fell on top of the crimson girl. Groaning, she opened her eyes to see who she'd pulled down with her, soon regretting opening her eyes. A girl with white hair, very pale complexion and more noticeably, piercing icy blue eyes. Those eyes were staring at Ruby's silver ones. The white haired girl blushed deeply. 

Ruby now realised why the white-haired girl was blushing; one, their faces were so close they could kiss. Two, the white-haired girl's hand had landed on Ruby's right breast and three, the girl's left leg was currently in between Ruby's legs. The crimson girl blushed a deeper red than her own cloak. 

"Um..." the young faunus tried to speak but nothing came out. The other girl tried pulling herself up, but to her dismay, Ruby still had hold of her. The white-haired girl was pulled back down as Ruby subconsciously held onto the other girl's dress. 

"Owww.” they both said as they head-butted each other. Ruby let go of the girl's dress to tend to her new injury. The older of the two got up and straightened her dress out and proceeded to rub her own injured head.

Ruby sat up, her hood falling off in the process as the girl in front of her started to rant, her face turned away from the crimson girl. "What the hell were you thinking? My dress is now ruined, my hair is a mess, my head hurts and to top it all off you made a fool of me..." the girl trailed off as she finally faced Ruby, who was still sat on the floor. 

Ruby stared at the snow-white beauty in front of her only to be interrupted by the girl clearing her throat. "Erm...Sorry," the young faunus stuttered as she continued to blush. 

"It...it's fine." The blue-eyed girl stumbled over her words, blushing again as she held her hand out for Ruby to take. "Erm...thanks," the young faunus thanked the girl as she took her hand.

Ruby looked around, noticing a small group of people watching and laughing at them. Ruby flipped them off, but they just laughed harder. The white-haired girl stepped forward and yelled, "If you don't piss off, I'll report you for vandalising school property." The girl threatened. They soon shut up and moved on. One of them glancing backwards at the red and white duo, glaring at them.

Ruby turned back to the girl, ready to thank her. Instead, she was greeted with an outstretched hand, "Weiss Schnee, and you are?" the younger girl took Weiss' hand and shook it, introducing herself, "Ruby Rose."

"Well Ruby Rose, you either owe me a new dress or something of equal value," Weiss stated, now glaring at Ruby. "That's fine," Ruby replied with a smile on her face. Weiss looked surprised then said, "You do realise that this dress is worth more than that weapon behind your back."

Ruby chuckled, "I doubt it, this baby is worth quite a lot. It's got the best materials on it and in it."   
Weiss's simply huffed, eyeing the younger girl. Well, more like checking her out.

Quickly realising she was checking the young faunus out, she stopped and asked the girl, "Okay, so how much is it actually worth? It doesn’t look like much but it’s clearly taken care of.”

"I’m not inclined to answer that question. But I can guarantee it’s not worth as much as your rapier. Definitely not as much as the Schnee Dust Company’s Heiress’ weapon." Ruby smiled at Weiss, knowing she was correct on who she was speaking to. “And I didn’t know the Heiress to the SDC swung that way.” The younger girl smirked as Weiss’ face turned red again.

Before Weiss could respond, the campus speakers crackled to life. A voice familiar to Ruby erupted through them, "Could all first-year students make their way to the ceremony hall, located to the right of the cafeteria. I repeat, could all first-year students make their way to the ceremony hall. Thank you.”

"I guess we should make our way there then," the Schnee girl stated, starting to walk away. "Wait for me!" Ruby yelled after her, catching up quickly.

Now caught up, Weiss turned to her and simply rolled her eyes before entering through the large oak doors of the ceremony hall, finding a free spot to stand in.

Ozpin stood on stage and looked out towards the students before clearing his throat and walking up to the microphone. Professor Goodwitch was on the stage too.

"I'll keep this brief." The headmaster said clearing his throat again. "You have travelled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills. And when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your lives to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy, in need of a purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step." Walking off stage, Professor Goodwitch stepped up to the microphone and spoke, "You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed. With that, she stepped away from the microphone and walks off the stage.

Students started filing out, including Weiss. She stopped and looked back towards Ruby who just stood there. "Come on, you dunce. What are you waiting for?" the pale girl yelled to Ruby from across the hall. 

"Sorry Weiss, I have a meeting with Professor Ozpin now. I'll catch you later!" the cookie lover yelled back.

"Alright, see you after," Weiss called back. Turning around but quickly turning back she called across the hall, "Dolt!" This made Ruby chuckle to herself.

As Weiss walked out of the hall, a thought hit Ruby like a tonne of bricks. 'Where the hell is Ozpin's office?' As if the universe had heard her, a green-haired man whizzed into the hall and stopped in front of Ruby. "Ruby Rose, yes?" he asked rather quickly. Before she could answer he spoke again, "Good, now follow me please." He said, whizzing to another door and stopping to look back at Ruby. Ruby got the hint and activated her semblance, appearing next to the green-haired professor. 

After racing through the halls to the Headmaster's office, they arrived in just five minutes. Ruby being able to keep up with the caffeine-fueled professor.

The green-haired man, known as Professor Oobleck, knocked on the wooden door they were currently standing outside of. A 'come in' instantly sounded through the door. Professor Oobleck opened the door, revealing the   
gears of a giant clock. He held the door open for Ruby and shut it behind him after she stepped through.

"Please take a seat, Miss Rose." Professor Ozpin's voice rang out, bringing Ruby out of her thoughts. She slowly walked over to the spare chair on the right-hand side behind the headmaster's desk. Sitting down, she saw Yang give her a quick glance before going back to staring at her hands in her lap.

"Now, what in Oum's name happened on that airship?" the Ageing Professor asked, his voice stern but his facial expression neutral. 

"I think Ruby might be my missing sister from eight years ago," Yang said, her voice drawn out and raspy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there’s anything that does need changing, errors included please let me know. Even though it has been edited it still probably has errors. Thanks and enjoy :3


	7. Welcome to Beacon Academy Pt 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of Ruby’s first day at Beacon. I wonder what else could happen.  
> (Well I know but new readers don’t xD)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I’ve done a few minor edits but nothing special. It still might not make much sense but it’ll do for now.  
> Happy reading guys

...."I think Ruby might me my missing sister from eight years ago," Yang said, her voice drawn out and raspy. 

"I see, what makes you think that?" the headmaster questioned. 

"Well, eight years ago my little sister was taken by some strange organization, our mother was killed and me and our dad seriously injured." She took a raspy breath trying to hold back any tears that threatened to escape.

"I see. But Miss Rose here is a faunus. How can you explain she could be your sister?" the Professor asked. Yang sighed and sat up straight in her chair.

"Well you see, my sister loved cookies and roses. Ruby here, admitted she likes them too. Also, her semblance. Our Mother, Summer Rose, was always able to burst into white rose petals at great speed. Our Mother also explained that the semblance she has is hereditary, meaning my sister would have the same speed semblance. Ruby here, either managed to steal the semblance or she is my sister. Also, the hair colour and eye colour are the same as Summer's. Plus, she looks almost like Summer." Yang took a deep breath; glad she was able to speak without turning into a blubbering mess. 

"I see, the only way for us to be sure and confirm such a thing would be a DNA test between Ruby and your Father. Do we have permission to do that, Miss Rose?" the headmaster looked to Ruby who had just been listening and thinking at the same time. 

"Yeah, I guess. But I have a question or two," the young faunus stated. Her ears twitched as Professor Ozpin said, "Go on." 

"If she's my sister," she points to Yang, "and my mother is dead, and my father is probably stilled scarred mentally and physically, why can't I remember anything about them? Hell, I can't even remember anything before last year, so how is it I can't remember a thing?" Ruby questioned, looking the Beacon Headmaster dead in the eyes.

Silence emitted through the large office as Ozpin looked like he was thinking, Yang was just sat there in silence and Goodwitch seemed to be thinking. Ruby was waiting for one of them to answer her question. Finally, Ozpin broke the silence, "I have a feeling your memory has been wiped. I also have a feeling Miss Xiao Long is right. We will see. I will start researching through the archives, new and old and I will see what I can find. Plus," he took a deep breath before continuing, "I have plenty of trusty contacts. Including a dusty old crow."

"Thank you, Professor," Yang said quietly. Both girls looked at the aging professor who spoke again, "A blood sample will be needed at some point but now is not the time. Glynda, please escort these young ladies to the ballroom."

"Of course," she simply said, and walked to the other side of the desk and motioned for the red and yellow pair to stand up and follow.

Not long after leaving Ozpin’s office, the two young girls stood just in the door of the Ballroom looking around.

"So...um..." Yang started to say but Ruby interrupted, "I'm going to bed." She left Yang on her own as she made her way into the large room. She kept an eye out for the snow-white Schnee.

Finally spotting her in the top corner, she made her way over, ignoring any funny looks and stares. She noticed that two sleeping mats and sleeping bags had been set up, one currently occupied by Weiss and the other empty. She took a closer look and saw it was her sleeping bag. Although she didn't actually need to sleep very often but she still appreciated the kind gesture.

Weiss was on her scroll, her thumbs working furiously across the screen. On closer inspection, the Schnee was texting someone. Ruby couldn't see who she was messaging at the time but assumed it to be someone the older girl didn't like.

The brunette grabbed her pyjamas from her backpack and headed for the bathroom. On her way there she noticed the raven-haired girl from the airship and stopped dead in her tracks and stared. 

The raven-haired girl noticed Ruby's staring, glancing up from her book and then back down; soon looking back up at the younger faunus. 

Ruby smiled at the girl, showing two prominent shiny white canines. The raven-haired girl quickly looked back down at her book and seemingly pulled it closer to her face. Instead of going straight to the bathroom, the young faunus walked over to the raven-haired girl.

"Um...hi..." Ruby hesitantly spoke up. The raven-haired girl's bow twitched ever so slightly no one else would have noticed it. "I thought you were," Ruby thought aloud unintentionally. The raven-haired girl's head perked up at Ruby's words. "What do you mean by that?" the girl asked warily, looking at the younger girl suspiciously. Ruby leaned in closer to the other girl and whispered, "I know you're cat faunus." The raven-haired girl was about to push Ruby away when the crimson-clad girl lightly pushed her back. "Don't worry I won't tell anyone. Your secrets safe with me," Ruby reassured the feline girl. 

The girl's expression softened to one of curiosity, asking the question she'd been thinking since seeing the younger faunus on the airship.

"What type of faunus are you?" Ruby looked at the girl as if she had grown two heads. "I don't recognize your type. The faunus I've seen in Menagerie don't look anything like you and most only have one trait whereas you have two," the raven-haired girl explained.

"Ooooh, sorry." Ruby said, now thinking whether or not she should tell the truth. She opted for the truth after debating with herself in her thoughts. "Well, I'm a wolf faunus and I have four traits if you count my canines," Ruby explained, taking a seat next to the girl on the floor.

"What's your name by the way?" Ruby asked curiously. "Blake," the girl now known as Blake said. "You?"

"Ruby, nice to meet you. Anyways, you seem to want to know what other traits I have don't you?" Ruby questioned, the girl just nodded. "Well, I have a tail, ears, and my canines but I also have retractable claws," Ruby explained and took a glove off and showed her claws to Blake before putting them away and putting the glove back on.

Over where Weiss was, her disgrace of a father had finally stopped texting her. She was furious with him but she also felt like she still couldn’t escape him. Weiss never really understand how she should feel; she always bottled up her emotions until she inevitably exploded at someone; she either doesn't know or someone she cares about. 

Getting up from the temporary bed, she looked around the large ballroom for the crimson wolf faunus. For some reason, Weiss felt drawn to her as if something was pulling her towards the brunette. 

It didn't take long for her to spot Ruby sat down with a raven-haired girl. She watched as Ruby pulled her glove off and showed something to the girl with the black bow. Ruby seemed to be doing most of the talking, the other girl listening and nodding her head whenever it was right to show she was paying attention. 

She decided to walk over and see what they were talking about. Before she could, a blonde girl got there first. Now she was curious as to why the raven-haired girl had a blush on her face. She saw Ruby stand up, saying something to do the blonde girl. The blonde grabbed Ruby in a bear hug.

'What in all of Remnant is going on,' the white-haired teenager thought. The blonde girl and Ruby started raising their voices as the blonde continued teasing Ruby.

She's had enough of watching and decided to stroll over. 

Now next to the blonde she glared at her, the girl glared back.

"People are trying to sleep you know!" Weiss scolded the taller girl.

Yang's POV (I wasn’t trying to get rid of these)

The lilac-eyed teen had just seen Ruby sit down next to the black-haired girl from the airship. She eyed them curiously as the black-haired beauty nodded whenever Ruby would say something.

She resisted the building curiosity for as long as she could but gave up and walked over. Ruby noticed the blonde walking over and glared at her. 

As Yang got to them both, she winked at the black-haired girl. She still didn't know her name even after making a fool of herself on the airship.

"Hey beautiful, can I finally ask your name?" Yang said to the black-haired girl whilst winking again. This just made the girl blush. Yang smiled at how easy it was to make the other girl become so flustered. Ruby stood and faced Yang and glared more daggers at her.

"Do you mind? We were having a conversation here." Ruby stated, clearly not impressed.

"Well, sorry. I came over to get her name and see what you were talking about," Yang retorted, glaring back at Ruby.

"As if I'm gonna tell you what we were talking about. Some things aren't supposed to be known by many people, especially what we were talking about," Ruby retorted back.

Yang had, had enough already and picked the younger girl up, bear-hugging her. "Will you tell me if we do end up being sister's," Yang asked, seemingly squeezing the life out of the poor girl. 

"Let...me...go...Yang..." Ruby managed to speak but each word was between a desperate breath for air as she was squeezed tightly. 

"Nope, answer the question." The blonde brute squeezed harder.

"I...can't...breath...to...tell...you," Ruby's speech kept being interrupted due to needing to breathe from the pressure her potential sister was putting on her chest.

"Answer my question and I'll let you go. It's simple," the blonde brute let up on the pressure on the younger girl so she could speak.

Yang, still holding her she finally said, "Maybe, I don't know. It's hard to just tell people of your strengths, weaknesses, and everything in-between." Before she could slip out of Yang's bear hug, the blonde squeezed the young faunus again. Ruby yelped as she felt like her ribs were going to crack.

"People are trying to sleep, you know!" An icy cold voice said next to the blonde. She turned her head to see a girl with white hair and piercing blue eyes, glaring daggers that could kill a man. Yang let go of Ruby and decided to confront the white-haired girl.

"And? Some people not all," Yang finally retorted.

"No, she's right people are trying to sleep, Yang. Might not be many but people are still trying to sleep." Ruby piped up after catching her breath. 

"Yeah, whatever," Yang said with an I-don't-give-a-fuck attitude. She turned to the raven-haired girl, "Are you going to tell me your name or what?" she asked the raven-haired girl.

"If I tell you my name, will you leave me alone?" the raven-haired girl asked. 

"Yeah, I suppose. For now, anyways," Answered the girl. 

"It's Blake. Happy now?" the bow-clad girl replied.

"Yes. See you later, Blakey." Yang winked at the girl before walking away.

Ruby and the white-haired girl were still there, seemingly bickering between themselves. She walked past them both and gave a quick glare to the white-haired girl and carried on to her own makeshift bed. She got in and lay on her side, taking her scroll out and started playing a game until she felt tired enough to sleep.

Back with Ruby and Weiss, the girls were currently bickering like an old married couple. Bringing an unseen small smile to Blake’s face. 

“What's your problem, princess? All I did was come over here and talk to Blake. It's not illegal you know. I can speak to people if I want to. And when I came to get my pyjamas you were so enthralled in your scroll you didn't even notice me!" Ruby rambled on, yelling the last part. 

"Well, I'm sorry I had something important to take care of! And I never said it was illegal to talk to people. I simply meant you should keep it down or even go to bed yourself as our lives could be on the line tomorrow." Weiss bickered back.

"Guys, can you not?" Blake's voice interrupted, hiding her smile behind her book. "Just go to bed or something."

"Fine," Weiss huffed and stalked off. 

"Sorry, Blake. Speak another time," Ruby said, calming down and turning to Blake.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. Goodnight." Blake said looking back at her book.

Ruby turned around to Weiss, but she wasn't there. So, she walked into the bathroom, got changed and brushed her teeth and made her way back over to her makeshift bed. Once there, she saw Weiss once again in her sleeping bag, facing away from Ruby.

The young faunus got into her own sleeping bag and didn't realise she was so tired. It didn't surprise her as she had little to no Grimm energy in her which usually kept her awake longer since Grimm don't need sleep. She soon had sleep take its grasp on her as other students had started going to sleep as well.

Finally, she fell asleep and dreamt of something she couldn't explain. Something horrific.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of chapter 7. 
> 
> I should probably explain the POV thing. Ive been trying to get rid of the POVs of characters but I couldn’t figure out how to do one or maybe two in this chapter so I’ve had to keep that bit the same as before. My brain ain’t working properly today so if you see any errors please let me know in the comments. Thanks guys.  
> Happy reading everyone! :)


	8. Initiation Pt 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby begins her day in horrific pain. Her newfound friends don't know what the fuck is going on. Even Ruby doesn't know what's going on.  
> Ozpin leaves Ruby a choice to do initiation or not. Will she do it? And if she does, what will she face?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this has no edits rn. It will do at some point but it’s far too long to bother atm. So enjoy the unedited chapter.

Opening her tired silver eyes, Ruby rubbed the sleep out and noticed it was still dark outside. No one else was awake either. She looked to her left and saw the white hair of Weiss poking out from underneath the sleeping bag. The older girl's breathing was shallow and calm meaning she was still asleep.

The young faunus pushed her sleeping bag back and stood up. After stretching, she quietly walked over to her backpack and took out her scroll.  
'For fuck sake, I've only been asleep for a few hours,' Ruby thought, grumbling internally as she looked at the clock on her scroll. It read 5:36am. 'No wonder no one is up, it's too early yet,' Ruby thought and grumbled to herself quietly.

The cookie loving teenager put her scroll back in her bag and pulled out her clothes, making sure to grab a clean pair of underwear and stockings, her toothbrush and toothpaste. She made her way to the gender neutral bathroom and shut herself in one of the cubicles. She changed quickly and quietly.

After changing her clothes she brushed her teeth and had a sudden craving of something. 'Probably craving Grimm energy again,' she thought to herself.

Finishing brushing her teeth, she went to wash her toothbrush off when a pain in her right arm began. It was dull and bearable at first. It travelled into her hand and into her shoulder, becoming more painful. It then travelled across her chest and into her other shoulder, arm and hand. The pain amplified to just bearable. It felt like something was burning her from the inside out as the pain travelled into her abdomen and down into her legs and feet. Amplifying again to the point where Ruby only just stifled any noise.

It only got worse when the burning pain travelled up her neck and into her head. The pain was now most definitely unbearable. The young faunus' legs gave way from under her as the burning got worse every minute that went by. She curled up into a ball and held her head. It felt like she was on fire, her brain feeling like it was melting away. Her heart pounding so fast it felt like she didn't even have a pulse.

Finally, she let a scream rip through the silent air. It echoed throughout the bathroom and into the ballroom. She couldn't stop screaming, the pain too much for her body to handle at once. All she could do was hold her head and hold her body close to her in hopes the pain would go away. But it didn't. It just kept getting worse.

The pain ridden girl began to go dizzy as someone ran into the bathroom. The person was blurred but somehow Ruby could tell it was Blake.  
Blake moved towards the younger girl and tried to calm her but the raven-haired girl's touch only made the pain worse. 

Ruby screamed louder as the pain seared through her entire body. Blake stood up and moved towards the bathroom exit, other students had gathered, wondering what was going on.

Blake spoke to a couple of the students but Ruby didn't hear what was said. Her wolf ears hurt and her eyes ached.

Ruby was still screaming as she saw two new blurred people enter the bathroom, pushing past the students.  
Although they were blurry she recognised Yang and Weiss' hair colours.

She was still screaming by the time two others entered the bathroom. Ruby couldn't tell who they were this time as she was beginning to lose consciousness. The last thing she felt was immense pain before finally embracing the arms of unconsciousness.

Ruby's dream

Ruby awoke and opened her eyes slowly. Brilliant white filled her eyes as she sat up. She realised it was snow and stood up. Looking around she didn't see anything of interest but began to walk.

'Where am I?' she asked herself. Of course no one answered her thoughts.  
She continued to walk until she came upon a two story cabin. 

Two young children materialised as she walked closer. They were building a snowman. Well not for long as the smaller of the two threw a snowball at the taller child. The taller child looked an awful lot like someone Ruby knew. She couldn't place who though. 

The child had long blonde hair and wore mostly yellow and beige clothing. The younger girl, Ruby had never seen before. She had a red hooded jacket, the hood pulled up over her face.

Ruby stood and watched the two children have a small snowball fight before the taller of the two threw one a little too hard. It landed in the smaller girls face and caused a nose bleed. The smaller girl started crying, the taller girl trying to comfort her before she got into trouble.

Unfortunately for her, a man came out of the cabin. 'Probably their father,' Ruby thought.

He started scolding the blonde girl for being too rough but a woman interjected and said it was alright and accidents happen. She took the smaller girl inside to clean her bloody nose.

'Why did that woman look so familiar to me? She had the same hair colour as me too? What's with that blonde girl too?' Ruby rattled her brain for the answers but couldn't find anything.

The surrounding area turned black. Another vision coming into focus soon after.

It was the smaller girl again, this time without the hooded jacket but her back turned towards Ruby. She was in the garden with the same woman as before. They were planting something. Ruby took a closer look and realised it was a red rose bush. It was small but it was still beautiful. The red roses swaying each time the wind blew. 

The girl looked so happy. She hugged the woman tight and said something that made Ruby's heart ache. "I love you, mummy."  
The woman hugged the girl back just as tight. Ruby felt tears fall from her eyes. She quickly wiped them away with her sleeve.

It went black again. It felt like an eternity had passed until another vision came forth, this time Ruby was in a kitchen. 

She was in the cabin itself. The sun shone brightly through the windows. Ruby looked around and saw the young girl again with the woman. They were making something together. Well the girl was trying to steal something from a mixing bowl. Ruby looked closer and saw it was cookie dough. 

The woman batted the girl's hand away playfully. She said with so much love and patience in her voice, "Not yet sweetie. We need to turn it into cookies and bake them first." The girl pouted at the woman.

Ruby hadn't realised before but the girl had the same hair colour as the woman. The same hair colour as herself.  
'Who the hell are these people and why do they have the same hair colour as me?' Ruby shouted to herself in her thoughts.

The woman picked the girl up and hugged her close. The girl snuggled into the woman's shoulder and began to suck her thumb.

The vision went black once again. This time the girl was older. Just by a couple of years. The girl watched the woman in amazement as the white-cloaked woman swung scythe around gracefully. The woman put the scythe down against a chair and disappeared in a flurry of white rose petals. 

Ruby watched as she appeared behind the girl and shouted "Boo." The girl jumped in surprise. She was then tickled until she couldn't breath. The girl managed to breath out, "Mummy... Please... Stop..."

The woman stopped and picked the girl up. They started chatting about when the girl would get her semblance and her 'other' ability and when she could start training. The woman frowned and put the girl down and suggested they either plant another rose bush or bake some cookies but the girl refused and said, "No thanks mummy. I'll go and see what Yang is doing instead."

Those words or rather that name made Ruby step back. She stumbled over her thoughts. 'Yang? But I know a Yang. Same hair colour too. What is going on? Who is this Woman? And who is the little girl?'

Ruby's brain began to fizzle as the vision turned black. It soon became a dark night. Another vision. Ruby was on the landing in the cabin. A small blonde girl walked out of a bedroom. She stopped at the bathroom as a noise could be heard from downstairs. She was about to open the door when the noise sounded again. 

Curiosity getting the better of her, she slowly and quietly made her way downstairs.

The girl tried to quietly run back upstairs, the fifth step creaking under her foot. A figure appeared at the bottom and shot her with something. She collapsed and thudded down the remaining steps. The sound causing a man to run out of another room. Before he could do anything else but shout, "Yang!" he was also shot with what looked like a dart. The woman from the other visions came rushing out of the same room with her red and white scythe as he collapsed. 

Ruby looked back at the room the blonde-haired girl had come from and saw a scared little girl. The same girl from her other visions.

The woman quickly said to the girl, "Stay in your room and don't come out, Ruby. Under no circumstances. Do not come out."

The woman disappeared in a flurry of rose petals. The vision cut off. Ruby was so confused. The girl was called Ruby? She couldn't be a younger version of herself could she? But she's human. The older Ruby isn't.

The vision came back but it was ahead of what had happened. The young girl, Ruby stood at the front door, crying. 

The older Ruby stood outside and watched as the woman was shot in the chest twice. The girl screamed "NOOOO!" and went to charge at the man that had shot the woman. 

The vision cut out again and was replaced by screams of pain. Ruby saw a metal chair with the girl restrained in it. She looked older. Probably around Ruby's age. She watched as the girl screamed and then calmed a bit before screaming more as wolf ears, a tail and claws grew out of her. 

A tiger faunus was present too. He shouted in joy, "It worked. Its finally worked!"  
Before Ruby's eyes, the girl in the chair had escaped and slaughtered most of the people in the room apart from one. The girl slumped to the floor and the vision cut out again. Being replaced with a vision of Ruby waking up in the middle of no where.

"That can't be me! No! That can't be me! What the fucks going on!?" she shouted out to no one in particular.  
The vision faded and it went completely black.

End of Ruby's dream

Consciousness pricked at Ruby's mind as she heard voices speaking in a whisper. The beep, beep, beep of a heart monitor sounded next to her.

She opened her eyes slowly and blinked a few times to get used to the new lighting. She opened her eyes fully and saw she was facing a white ceiling. She was on a comfortable bed, a light linen cover over her body. She looked around and saw she was in some sort of hospital room.

Six people were talking to each other in whispers. Yang, Weiss, Blake, Ozpin, Glynda and the same man from her dream.  
'The dream!' Ruby remembered the dream. The visions that had filled her mind as she lay comatose.

The blonde-haired man looked over to her and noticed she was awake. He spoke to Ozpin in a normal tone of voice, "Oz, she awake."  
Everyone looked around towards Ruby also noticing she was indeed awake. They stood up and made their way towards Ruby. Her heart rate jumped to 130 beats per minute. They all stopped and Ozpin spoke calmly, "No one is here to harm you, so calm down Miss Rose."

The blonde man looked at him with a puzzled expression painted across his face.  
"Did you just say Rose?" he quizzed Ozpin.

"I certainly did, Taiyang. Something the matter?" Ozpin quizzed back.

"Rose is Ruby's surname and Summer's surname." The man now recognised as Taiyang stated.

"I am aware of that. This young faunus girl has both the same first and last names of your missing daughter Tai," Ozpin explained.

Taiyang looked even more confused and asked the question everyone was thinking, "She couldn't be my daughter could she?"

"Possibly, yes. But she is a faunus and your daughter is human." Ozpin calmly stated before taking a sip out of his mug.

"But look at her Oz. She has the same hair colour as Ruby and Summer, she has the same eye colour as Ruby and Summer. She even looks like Summer for crying out loud!" Taiyang shouted, making Ruby panic again.

"Dad, calm down. I think so too." Yang spoke up and put her hand on Taiyang's shoulder to reassure him.

"But she is a faunus Tai, you cannot deny that fact. The only way we can see if she is your daughter or not is to do a DNA test. I already suggested this to both Miss Xiao Long and Miss Rose in my office." Ozpin explained to Taiyang.

"Well let's do it then." he simply stated. Tears had formed in his eyes and threatened to fall down his face.  
Yang was the same but Weiss and Blake were just confused. Glynda stood by Ozpin's side just watching and listening.

"What if she does turn out to be my daughter? How will we explain she was human before her disappearance?" Taiyang asked, wiping his tears away before they could escape his eyes.

Ozpin looked to Glynda to Ruby and then back to Taiyang. "We will have to search old records and archives. I'm not sure how to explain it Tai. It will be difficult," Ozpin explained, earning him a look of disbelief.

"I doubt there are any records on something like that! Are you mad? The fact we're suggesting humans could be turned into faunus! " Taiyang raised his voice again on the last statement. Becoming impatient of the ageing headmaster.

Ruby finally spoke up after listening to the two men argue, "Well I could just tell you." 

Everyone looked at her either confused or curious. Ozpin raised a brow and asked, "How would you explain that if you don't remember anything?" He took another sip from his mug and as Ruby spoke again, "Because I remember something. I had a dream. Visions. I think they were memories of my past. I'm not sure but I saw a younger version of what looked like me screaming in pain. Wolf ears, a tail and claws appearing." the young faunus explained, unsure of the groups reaction to the new information.

"Are you saying you were experimented on?" Ozpin asked as calm as ever.

"Yes." Ruby simply said.

"What other memories did you have?" Taiyang asked, desperation in his voice.  
Ruby thought for a moment before remembering the snowball fight with the blonde girl. "I remember seeing a blonde haired girl and a girl with a red hooded jacket on, building a snowman. The red hooded girl threw a snowball at the blonde girl and they had a small snowball fight. It only ended because the blonde girl threw a snowball too hard at the other girl's face causing her to have a nosebleed. A blonde man came out and scolded the blonde girl." Ruby didn't seem to need to finish her memory as Yang and Tai were crying.

" You are my daughter. How could anyone else remember that?" Taiyang said through sobs.

"We still could do with doing a DNA test to make sure." Ozpin suggested.

"Fine by me," Ruby said, almost tearing up herself.

Time Skip

Ruby had decided to sleep a bit after Ozpin suggested to rest before Initiation began. Ozpin had got a nurse to take some blood from a very reluctant and scared Ruby for the DNA test before she fell asleep. 

If she and the other three girls felt up to it they were to meet at the top of Beacon Cliff above the Emerald Forest. If not, Ozpin said he would be able to pull some strings.

Instead, they all decided to head to Beacon Cliff. It had taken them half an hour to decide and another half an hour to get to the cliff. Everyone was waiting, including Ozpin and Glynda.  
Glynda had her tablet in hand waiting for Initiation to begin.

As the four girls stood on silver tiles Ozpin finally began his speech.  
"For years, you have trained to become warriors. Your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Glynda took over, "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumours of being put into teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... Today." Glynda finished and Ruby groaned under her breath. Not liking the idea of having to work with other people. She preferred to work alone. She was quite literally, a lone wolf.

Ozpin continued from where Glynda left off, "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone you can work well with."

Ruby groaned even more. The thought of working with people sending shivers down her spine.

Ozpin continued, "That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

This made Ruby's thoughts spiral. Her heart raced. And she groaned loud enough to earn the attention of Ozpin who just chuckled.

An orange-haired girl in a pink skirt spoke up to a boy with black hair and one pink streak in it, "See. Told you!"

Ozpin continued again, "After you have partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. There you will find an abandoned temple with relics. Each pair are to collect one each and return to the cliff. But be warned, you will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path or you will die." Ozpin finally finished.

Ruby heard the blonde boy from the air ship gulp and laugh nervously.  
Glynda spoke up next, "You will be monitored and graded throughout the duration of your Initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. Make sure you have your landing strategy planned out and good luck students."  
The students either nodded or didn't do anything.

"Does anyone have a question?" Ozpin asked.

The blonde boy from the air ship tried speaking up but Ozpin ignored him.  
Each student was sent flying through the air. Being rocketed out by the silver tiles that seemed to be tiled spring boards. Ruby didn't want to listen to the blonde boy asking stupid questions and was glad when she was propelled into the air.

As Ruby started nearing the tree tops, she fired her sniper and used its recoil to slow herself down. Quickly transforming her weapon into its scythe function. Catching a tree branch with her scythe, she swung on it through the air and repeated the action until she was on solid ground.

Folding her scythe away, she started to run north. Her thoughts began to wander as she ran, 'I hope I don't get paired with someone like vomit boy. I doubt he'd be good in a fight. Maybe Yang? Nah I don't want to make it more awkward for us both. What about Blake? She's so mysterious but I doubt I'd be able to hold a conversation with her for long. Who else is there I know? Yang, Blake, Vomit boy...'

Ruby's thoughts were cut short as Weiss came into view. Unfortunately, Ruby didnt notice her until it was too late.  
Ruby collided with the heiress and fell to the ground in a heap. Again.  
This time the red and white duo ended up the other way around with Ruby on top of Weiss.  
Weiss was on her stomach. Both yelled out "OW!" as their heads also collided.  
Ruby still hadn't noticed she was on top of Weiss until a clearing of a throat brought her out of her daze.

"You Dolt!" the heiress scolded the younger girl. "Will you get off of me!?" she yelled again.

Ruby's face turned the colour of her hooded cloak as she realised she was on top of the heiress. Her breasts pressing into the older girls back, their legs a tangled mess and one of Ruby's hands restrained one of Weiss'.

" So...sorry..." Ruby managed to stutter out before untangling herself and standing up and walk away to give Weiss some space. The heiress sat up, her face rivalling Ruby's in embarrassment.

Weiss was about to stand when a growl erupted out from behind a bush. The girls froze and listened out for another growl. The growl came a little louder than before.

Ruby whispered over to Weiss, "Don't make any sudden noise or movements."

Weiss nodded in acknowledgement and dared not to move.  
Ruby closed her eyes sniffed the hair. The smell of a Grimm emanated through the air. As Ruby opened her eyes, the Grimm jumped out of the bush. Aiming straight for Weiss. The young Reaper went straight into action and activated her semblance. Appearing in front of the Beowolf Grimm and blocking its outstretched clawed paw. She removed her scythe and swung at the Beowolf's outstretched limb. She cut the limb off earning her a loud howl of pain from the Beowolf. 

She took the chance to disappear again and reappear behind the Beowolf, sinking her sycthe into its back. She whizzed back around to its front and placed her hand on its mask-like face. Its blood red eyes flickered as Ruby absorbed the Grimm's destructive energy. 

Its body evaporated into the air as Ruby turned to Weiss, who was still on the floor. Shock was riddled across the older girl's face. Before Ruby could turn and pick her scythe up another Beowolf came into the small clearing.

The young Reaper immediately powered herself up with the Grimm energy she had just stolen. Her arm became engulfed by the Grimm's darkness. She infused it with some of her aura, making it a tinted red. When she felt it was powered up enough she opened the palm of her hand and let the dark blast go. It collided and enveloped the Beowolf that was about to pounce on Weiss, destroying it almost instantly.

Ruby let the blast die out as she became dizzy. She stumbled towards a tree and leaned against it.

The dizziness dissipated and Ruby looked over to Weiss who was between scared and shocked.  
The young Reaper realised she'd shown her abilities and immediately sprang towards the heiress.

Weiss shuffled backwards until her back hit a tree. The heiress tried to speak but nothing came out. Opening and closing her mouth, trying to form words. 

The young Reaper knelt down in front of the heiress and leaned forward so she was closer to the older girl's ear.

"Shhh... I won't hurt you if you keep you mouth shut. If you don't, I'll have no choice but to kill you. Understood?" Ruby whispered into the older girl's ear who nodded in return.

The young Reaper moved away from Weiss' ear and smiled. Her eyes still tinted red and her sharp canines making her look much more scary.  
" Wha...what ar...are you?" Weiss finally sputtered out, fear creeping into her voice. 

"Something from fairy tales. The Grimm's worst nightmare. I'm probably the only one left. I'm a Grimm Reaper." The young Reaper explained. She looked into Weiss' eyes and didn't find any sort of surprise or confusion. 

"So, you've heard of my kind then?" the young Reaper asked still searching for any sort of shock.

"Y...yes." Weiss stuttered out, fear creeping into her voice.

"How?" Ruby quizzed the heiress.

"Du...during or after...after the Great War, my family hunted your kind down in fear of your abilities." Weiss hesitantly said, her voice becoming clearer by the end.

Ruby's rage rose from her core, she grabbed the heiress by the throat and slammed her into the tree. The young Reaper growled out," WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"

Weiss whimpered as her throat was being squeezed shut. Ruby's claws dug into the white-girls neck making tears form in her eyes.

"WHAT. DID. YOU. SAY!?" the young Reaper repeated, slamming Weiss into the tree at each word.

Weiss clawed at Ruby's hands, wanting release so she could breath again. Ruby realised she was squeezing too tight for the heiress to speak and reduced the pressure on the girl's throat.

"What did you say about your family? Ruby asked again, a bit calmer but a growl still rumbled out.

"The...they hun...hunted...your...kin..kind." Weiss could barely breath but managed to sputter out the words.

"Are you going to kill me then?" Ruby asked, much more calmly.  
"N...no. We...we...dont...do...do...that now." Weiss managed to sputter out.

Ruby let go of the older girl and stood up. Weiss coughed and spluttered, trying to get her breath back properly.  
Ruby looked up to see a large bird-like Grimm flying overhead. It was circling them, waiting for an opportunity to attack.  
Ruby looked down at Weiss and saw how scared she was. She could feel the fear radiating off the older girl.

Ruby stretched her hand out to the frightened girl. Offering to help her up.

"Stay there, I have an idea," Ruby said as Weiss hesitantly took Ruby's hand.

The young faunus pulled her up and steadied her before walking off towards the bushes. She looked up and saw the Grimm still circling them both.

She thought, 'Come. Do not attack or die.'

It did as told which surprised Ruby. She didn't think it would work against such a big Grimm. Especially a Nevermore.  
It landed, just fitting into the small clearing and Ruby walked back over to Weiss who looked like she was about to faint.

"How?" Weiss asked, staring at Ruby.

"It's a secret." Ruby replied, tapping her index finger against her nose.

"Follow me, I have an idea that should get us to the temple faster." Ruby stated proudly.

Weiss just stood there, shocked and confused. Wondering what the younger girl was up to this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 9 will be up shortly.  
> Happy reading everyone :)


	9. Initiation Pt 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby, Weiss, Yang and Blake team up along with Jaune, Pyhrra, Nora and Ren and fight against hordes of Grimm. Ruby decides whether or not to show her abilities to everyone else. What will she do? Will she destroy the Grimm with her abilities or will she hold back?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told you this chapter is going to be up shortly. Unedited again so enjoy. Any errors let me know in the comments and it’ll get edited at some point.

Weiss just stood there, shocked and confused and wondering what the younger girl was up to. She didn’t know what Ruby would do next to threaten her life. She was seriously shitting herself but was able to compose herself.

Weiss hesitated to follow Ruby as the younger girl strolled towards the giant Nevermore. A bird like Grimm with a large, sharpened beak and razor talons. Its eyes glowing a blood red and its mask-like face white with glowing strips of red. It screeched loudly as Ruby stepped in front of it. It quietened down when Ruby reached her arm out.

‘How is she doing that?’ Weiss thought as the young Reaper began to stroke the side of its head with the back of her hand. It puzzled Weiss but also scared her as she had never come across something like it. She had heard of Reapers from her father and how her family had hunted them down. How her family caught them and tortured them for information. They either turned rabid from not expelling the Grimm’s destructive energy soon enough or they self destructed by making the Grimm’s energy fizzle their brain and other organs.

Weiss had heard so much about them but never heard of their abilities and often wondered why their weren’t any around. The Great War and the hunting couldn’t have caused them to become almost extinct.

Ruby turned her head and looked at Weiss, “Are you coming over or what?” she asked staring at the Heiress. Weiss stared back, dumbfounded.

‘Is she crazy? I am not going anywhere near that. It could attack at any time. Hell no!’ Weiss thought, really not wanting to go anywhere near the Nevermore.

The giant Nevermore stared Weiss down, almost looking as if it were daring her to take a step forwards. She couldn’t help but stare back into its deadly red eyes. It lowered its head in submission. Weiss thought, ‘What in all of Remnant? It just submitted to me. Maybe it won’t hurt me.’

The Heiress walked forward slowly, stepping carefully and trying not to stand on anything that could startle the Nevermore into attacking her. She kept her eye on it the whole time as she moved to stand next to Ruby who followed her with her silver eyes.

"Get on it like this," the young faunus said, climbing on the Nevermore. Weiss was hesitant at first until she looked into the Nevermore's eyes.

The Heiress saw something that explained herself to the tee. Loneliness, misunderstanding and torment. She couldn't explain how but she knew that this Nevermore and maybe all Grimm were just misunderstood creatures. Maybe the creatures of Grimm didn't want to fight anymore and just live peacefully. Maybe the creatures of Grimm didn't want to die for nothing.

Weiss knocked those thoughts out of her mind and then thought, 'that's ridiculous, all Grimm want to do is kill every last man, woman and child in Remnant. They would never want peace and to live with us.'

Weiss was pulled out of her thoughts at the clearing of a throat. She looked up and saw Ruby looking down at her, waiting for her to climb onto the submissive Nevermore.

The Heiress started to climb up the Nevermore and almost fell backwards. Thankfully, Ruby caught her arm before she could fall.

She climbed the rest of the way with Ruby's help, pulling her up and making sure she was steady on the oversized bird.

It wasn't the most comfortable of things to sit on and there was only razor sharp feathers to hang on to. Luckily the feathers didn't stick up and were able to be sat on.

Ruby held on and motioned Weiss to scoot up to her. She did but still hung on to the Nevermore's feathers. Ruby spoke up, "Hold onto me, I'm pretty steady on these."

'Okay, she's definitely crazy if she's ridden one of these things before. And she expects me to trust her after what happened a bit since. She is definitely crazy.' Weiss thought to herself. Somehow, she liked the idea of holding onto Ruby. She also liked the idea of Ruby being this crazy to think up something like this.

Before she knew it, the Nevermore had taken off with a jolt of its giant wings. It made Weiss' stomach do backflips and her head began to spin.

She definitely did not like this one bit. It was nothing like being on an airship or bullhead. Weiss pressed her face into Ruby's back and held onto her tighter than she meant to. The wind rushed through her hair and blew passed her ears. 

She pushed herself into Ruby more as the Nevermore swerved to the right quickly. She felt herself go even dizzier and pressed her eyes closed tightly.

They started descending into another small clearing a few minutes later. It didn't feel like minutes to Weiss, it felt like hours. The landing made her stomach do backflips again. Not as bad as taking off though.

Weiss climbed off the Nevermore as fast as possible. Well, she practically fell off as her head wouldn't stop spinning. She tried to stand up straight, instead the dizziness overtook her and she passed out.

Ruby's POV

The whole flight, Ruby was directing the Nevermore through her thoughts. Telepathic communication only worked when Ruby had absorbed any Grimm. It came in handy when either her life was in danger or she needed a fast escape. Not all Grimm were as submissive as this though.

She kept feeling Weiss press into her back each time she ordered the Nevermore to fly right, fly left or go up or down. She seemed to like the fact that Weiss was holding onto her tight. Very tight.

She ordered the Grimm to descend and land in a small clearing that was around 300 meters away from the temple. She slid off the same side as Weiss and noticed the older girl wasn't very steady on her feet. 

Ruby watched as the Heiress tried to stand up straight and fall to the ground not long after, passing out.

The young faunus chuckled to herself and told the Nevermore to go away. Which it did. Thankfully.

She knelt down next to Weiss and checked if she was breathing. She was, her pulse felt a little off but she seemed fine in all. The young Reaper shook the Heiress to try and wake her but the older girl didn't give any sign of waking up any time soon.

Ruby sighed to herself and the predicament she was in. She wondered if she should use another ability she had to wake the Heiress. She shook the older girl again but to no avail she still didn't wake.

Ruby sighed again and blushed a little whilst leaning down towards Weiss' face. She could see how beautiful she really was. Her skin pale but it seemed to glow. Her face was free from any blemishes apart from one scar that ran over her left eye. 'Perfectly imperfect,' Ruby thought and then scolded herself for thinking that thought.

She leaned in closer; so close they could kiss. Which is what Ruby did. She gently pressed her lips to the unconscious Heiress', making her blush profusely. She pushed any lewd thoughts out of her mind and started to pour a small amount of Grimm energy into the Heiress.

Throughout the whole kiss, Ruby's mind was doing somersaults, her heart was beating furiously and her stomach felt like it had butterflies flying about in it. She had never felt like this before. She didn't understand it one bit and tried to push the feeling away but it wouldn't go away.

Just as she was about to pull away, Weiss' eyes shot open. The Heiress' face instantly turned red, putting Ruby's crimson cloak to shame. 

Ruby pulled away and straightened herself up, just as red as Weiss. 'Why am I blushing? I don't even like her. Do I? These feelings are freaking me the fuck out.' Ruby thought as Weiss stood up. 

Ruby had to grab her before she fell face first into the floor. The Heiress wasn't quite steady enough yet. "Sit back down, you're not steady enough yet." Ruby told the older girl in a much softer tone than she thought possible. 

The older girl complied and sat back down. Ruby looked at Weiss' face and noticed she was still much paler than before they rode the Nevermore. The older girl had stopped blushing and just stared at the ground, deep in thought. 

Weiss noticed Ruby's staring and perked a brow. Ruby returned the facial expression, raising her own brow. The older girl's cheeks tinted red as Ruby chuckled.

"Um...wh...why were...yo...you...kiss...kissing m...me?" Weiss stuttered out, her face going red again.

"I...erm...I had to...to...erm..." Ruby trailed and tried collecting her thoughts but she couldn't. Her thoughts were a complete mess. Her brain was like scrambled eggs.

Taking a deep breath, she tried again, "I had to kiss you to bring you around. You'd passed out." Ruby said, finally getting the right words out.

"You didn't have to kiss me you dunce! You could've just shaken me." Weiss scolded, still blushing.

"Erm...I did shake you. Like two or three times and you didn't wake up. And besides, it wasn't really the kissing that woke you up." The young faunus explained, furrowing her brows and thinking, 'Should I tell her how I did wake her up or nah? I probably should.'

The crimson cloaked girl heard the clearing of a throat and came out of her thoughts, she didn't realise she had been staring at Weiss the whole time. Ruby felt the heat go to her cheeks. She was blushing. Again.

"What did wake me up then?" Weiss finally asked. "Well, I have another ability. I can take life but I can bring back those who are close to death or just unconscious. Including those that are comatose," The young Reaper explained. The Heiress seemed to be satisfied with the answer as she tried standing once again. Ruby had to catch her again and gently placed her back on the ground.

Ruby thought for a moment, 'Should I offer her more Grimm energy? She seems to need it. Maybe I went overboard with the choking and whatnot. I'm an idiot. Anger issues is an understatement. Sack it, I'll ask her.'

Weiss was looking at the ground again as Ruby pulled herself from her thoughts. She cleared her throat and earned the attention of Weiss.

"You've still not recovered. It's my fault but I have a way to help you gain your strength again," Ruby explained, her cheeks tinting red again at the thought of kissing the older girl.

Ruby pushed the thoughts out of her mind as Weiss looked confused. "How?" the Heiress simply asked.

"Erm...I would have to kiss you again but its okay if you think you don't need it." Ruby explained, blushing more.

"Oh. Erm...How would that help me gain my strength?" Weiss asked, trying to rid herself of the same thoughts Ruby was having.

"Because I can transfer a tiny amount of Grimm energy into you. Touching a Grimm with my bare hands takes its energy but kissing someone transfers the energy. I don't really understand why," Ruby explained further.

"Erm...okay. Do it. I can't even stand without falling over." Weiss was blushing even more, going back to the colour of Ruby's cloak.

"Okay. But I need to hunt a Grimm first. I've ran out of Grimm energy. I'll be back in a minute," Ruby said, turning and walking away from Weiss. "Also, if you're in danger, scream," She said, turning back around momentarily.

Weiss was alone again. If something came at her now, she wouldn't be able to defend herself. 'Not good,' she thought as she looked around. Paranoia setting in.

She heard a howl and instantly regretted Ruby going off and leaving her there. 'If I weren't such a failure I wouldn't be in this mess.' she scolded herself. Her thoughts became negative towards herself. Loneliness surrounding her. She felt awful. How was she supposed to make the Schnee name great once again when she can't even defend herself from a faunus girl freak.

A little voice in Weiss' head started talking, 'That's not nice to say about someone who's trying to help you out.'

'Shut up,' Weiss thought to the little voice inside her head. She was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of someone or something moving in front of her. She looked up and was relieved to see Ruby. Her eyes were blood red again and it scared Weiss. 

"Are...are you going to...to do it then?" Weiss asked. Ruby just nodded and knelt down in front of her. Icy blue orbs stared into blood red ones. 

Weiss blushed as Ruby moved closer to her face, the young Reaper blushed in return. Their faces were very close, close enough now they could kiss. 

Weiss' thoughts were running wild. The thought of Ruby kissing her, touching her, caressing her body. For some reason, she wanted Ruby to do just that. 'That's never going to happen.' A little voice said inside Weiss' head. It was different from the other voice. 'Shut. Up.' she said in her mind to the voice. 

Ruby gently pressed her lips to Weiss'. It felt like electricity was coursing through her body. Her heart skipped and her stomach jumped. Her thoughts ran wild again.

She didn't know why, but she started to kiss the younger girl back and before they both knew it, they were both locked into a passionate kiss.

Their eyes were closed as the kiss deepened further. Ruby licked at Weiss' lips, asking for entrance into the warm cavern. Both quickly became oblivious to the world around them as Weiss gave permission for Ruby's tongue to explore her mouth. 

Weiss didn't want to pull away and instead, pulled Ruby closer. Her hands wandered to the younger girl's hips and rested there.

She felt Ruby's right hand land on her cheek and softly move around to the back of her head. Ruby pulled her in closer but unfortunately, they were both running out of oxygen.

The young Reaper leaned into Weiss and used her free hand to push the Heiress back. The heated kiss broke apart as Weiss lay on the ground, panting. Ruby was hovering above her, panting as well. The red in the younger girls eyes was almost gone.

Ruby was the first to come to her senses. Well, sort of. She moved off of Weiss and stayed sat on the ground, staring at Weiss who was still lay down. 

Weiss was still panting, trying to catch her breath, her thoughts were a jumbled up mess and to make things worse, Weiss had become turned on by the make out session.

She heard Ruby chuckle and she lifted her head to look at the young faunus.  
"What's funny?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing, it's just," Ruby chuckled more and then continued, "I can smell you want more."

Weiss blushed a deeper red than Ruby's cloak at the statement. It was true though. She did want more but now wasn't the time nor the place.

"Shut up dolt, " Weiss huffed and stood up. She was still a little unsteady but she would be alright. She hoped.

Ruby just laughed at Weiss' behaviour. "We should get going," the young faunus stated and stood up.

"Uh huh." The older girl said. She wasn't all there. She was back in her thoughts about what had just happened and why. She didn't know the answers of course. She was no expert on things like this.

She realised Ruby was walking away and pulled herself out of her lewd thoughts and followed the younger girl to the temple.

The red and white duo made it, Yang and Blake were already there and had picked their relic. Ruby walked up to the middle of the temple and looked at the chess pieces that were on pedestals. 'Chess pieces as relics? Seriously?' Ruby thought as she walked over to the knight. There seemed to be two of each piece but in the two different colours of white and black. She picked the white Knight and noticed the other one was gone.

The young faunus turned around when she heard someone shouting "woohoo!!"  
It was a girl with orange riding an Ursa. Of course the Ursa did not like it one bit. It thrashed around and suddenly stopped. It fell the ground, dead. The orange haired girl inspected it as a boy in green came running to her side. His hair was mostly black apart from one pink streak in his fringe.

Ruby didn't hear what was said as a screech rang out. She turned her head to see a red haired girl running away from Deathstalker. Vomit boy was hanging on the scorpion Grimm's giant stinger.

Yang spoke up and said, "Oh look, we're all here. Now we can all die together." Blake elbowed the blonde girl in the side and said, "Seriously Yang?" The blonde girl held her hands up in defense and just smiled sheepishly.

A clawing sound drew her attention to the sky. It was the Nevermore from earlier. 'Should have known it would be back.' Ruby thought and sighed to herself.

She looked at Weiss and noticed she was looking between the Nevermore and the Deathstalker. She looked to the Deathstalker just to witness vomit boy be flung towards the temple by the large scorpion Grimm. Luckily he managed to land on his feet, skidding back several feet before stopping.

Ruby had, had enough of the Grimm in this forest and just wanted Initiation to be over with.

"We don't need to fight them. We're here at the temple and the relics are right there," Vomit boy said as he now stood next to Ruby.

Blake spoke next and said, "You're right. We don't need to risk our lives. Everyone just needs to get a relic and get to the cliff."

The Deathstalker was currently fending for itself as the red haired girl battled it. Vomit boy shouted to the red haired girl to come over as fast as possible. Which she did but the Grimm was still alive. The Nevermore circled above the group of 8.

"Whats everyone's name before we go?" Yang asked out if the blue as they ran towards the cliff.

"Jaune," Vomit boy said. "Pyrrah," the red haired girl replied. "Nora and this is Ren," the orange haired girl introduced herself and the green wearing boy.

Gladly everyone that needed a relic retrieved one before they ran off. Ren and Nora retrieved the castle piece and Jaune and Pyrrah got the other castle piece.

The Deathstalker and Nevermore followed the group of 8 to a large clearing. The group stopped and saw no way out of fighting them. 

Ruby activated her semblance and charged at the Deathstalker. Readying her weapon as she charged. Yang called out to the young faunus but she just ignored her. 

The Nevermore took the opportunity to swoop down and try to attack Ruby. She dodged it and managed to keep charging at the Deathstalker. 

She swung her oversized weapon at the Deathstalker, it blocked the attack with its huge pincer and then countered with its other pincer. Ruby managed to block the attack with her weapon but got knocked back several feet. 

The Nevermore took the chance to attack again. It hovered in the air and flapped its gaunt wings. A few dozen razor sharp feathers shot out of it, aiming for the young girl below. 

Activating her semblance again, she dodged most of the feathers. But one. The huge razor sharp feather went straight through her thigh and into the ground, pinning the young Reaper. 

This just pissed Ruby off but she knew she would heal quickly if she could get the feather out. The Deathstalker took its chance and charged at her as she sat, trapped in the giant feather.

Gritting her teeth, she started trying to pull the razor feather out but the Deathstalker was gaining on her.

The oversized scorpion Grimm raised its giant stinger and thrust it forwards. Ruby closed her eyes in preparation of being struck down.

The attack never happened. She was alive. But how? She opened her eyes and saw Weiss in front of her. Looking up, she saw the Deathstalker's stinger frozen in a wall of ice. This gave Ruby time to pull the giant feather out.

It came out with a small sputter of blood and immediately began to heal. Being a Reaper had its perks. One being able to heal most wounds in an instant. She called it insta-heal.

"Ruby? Are you alright?" Bthe white-haired girl asked with a look of concern on her face.

"Yeah I'm fine. Its already healed." Ruby replied, standing up and showing Weiss the now non-existent wound.

The young faunus looked around the ice wall at the trapped Deathstalker. It was beginning to break free. The ice cracked and broke away in pieces.

Ruby grabbed the older girl by the waist and activated her semblance just as the scorpion Grimm broke free. It was beyond pissed. She appeared next to Yang and placed the Heiress next to the blonde girl before disappearing in a flurry of rose petals.

She charged at the Grimm as it charged at her. She prepared her weapon for the strike and slammed it down on the Deathstalker's giant pincer. It countered with its other pincer but the young faunus activated her semblance again and disappeared before the strike could hit her.

Appearing behind the Grimm, she swung her scythe back and thrust it forwards at the base of the Deathstalker's tail. The large Grimm screeched in pain as Ruby sliced through its tail, cutting it clean off.

She jumped and swung again as she landed on its back, sinking her scythe in the middle of it. She disappeared again, rose petals floating about as she activated her semblance again. This time appearing in front of the scorpion Grimm.

Before the Grimm could react, she placed her hand on its mask-like armoured face. It froze in place and its eyes flickered.

Everyone was watching to young Reaper fight the oversized scorpion. They were all shocked and in awe at the same time at Ruby's skill.

The Deathstalker's eyes flickered a few more times before going out completely. It vanished as the young Reaper absorbed its destructive energy. She looked round at everyone and noticed they looked confused and surprised at what Ruby had just done.

The Nevermore still flew above, circling the group of eight. Watching them and waiting for anither chance to attack.

"Now we need to get out of here," Yang shouted to Ruby.

"Alright, let's go," the young faunus said as she appeared next to Yang, making the blonde girl jump. Ruby giggled at Yang's reaction and started walking towards the cliff again. The others started to follow but a loud howl stopped them.

They all looked around them as eight large Beowolves surrounded them. One of them was much larger than the rest. 'The Alpha,' Ruby thought as she looked at each one.

The group of eight stood back to back in a circle, preparing some sort of defense. Rubt spoke up to the group, "I need to kill that Nevermore. It's waiting for a chance to attack. Probably when we're all busy with these lot. It'll pick us off one by one." Ruby explained to the others.

"Um, how are you going to do that, Ruby," Weiss asked the young faunus, obviously seeing flaws in the younger girl's plan.

"Yeah, Ruby, it's too high up." Yang stated. Ruby sighed in defeat them remembered she could telepathically communicate with it.

'Come, land and stay or die.' she thought to it. The Nevermore either didn't hear her or it blatantly ignored her.

"Okay, I have no idea. We need to lure it down somehow," Ruby said, out of ideas.

Before the group could continue chatting, seven Beowolves charged at them.

Jaune called out, "Looks like we're fighting anyways."

Ruby sighed as she was left with the Alpha. The others attacking the group. They seemed stronger than usual and more coordinated than they usually were.

Ruby disappeared in a flurry of rose petals, appearing again in front of the Alpha Beowolf. It roared loudly and stood on its hind legs. It was huge. Much bigger than any regular Beowolf. Ruby didn't know if she could kill it by herself but she would try regardless.

She quickly looked around at the others and saw they were doing fine on their own, well apart Jaune who was just on the defensive. She turned back around at the Alpha Beowolf and eed the beast of a Grimm up, unsure how she would kill it. 

The Nevermore above sqwarked loudly as if speaking to the Beowolves. The Alpha roared back as if replying to the Nevermore. 

After a few more moments of eyeing the Alpha up, she activated her semblance and whizzed around the Grimm. She went back and forth, slicing it with her scythe on its sides, front legs and hind legs. It looked as though it were going dizzy with how much she did it. 

Ruby began to become impatient with using this method. She shot off her sniper on her scythe and jumped at the same time. she flew up into the air and fired another shot at the Alpha's head. The recoil of her sniper made her stay in the air. She flew to a tree branch after using her semblance. She fired another couple of shots before running ou of ammo. The young Reaper was getting pissed off at how strong this Grimm was. 

Ruby reloaded her sniper and jumped from branch to branch around the Alph Beowolf. It followed her every move with its blood red eyes. The crimson cloaked Reaper suddenly got an idea. Why didn't she just jump down straight at it and aim for its head with her hand? 

Activating her semblance once more, she whizzed to a branch on the other side, confusing the Grimm. She took her chance and jumped own at the Grimm. Landing on top of it, they both tumbled over, Ruby still on top of the Alpha Beowolf. Before it could counter, Ruby reached her left hand out to its mask-like face. It froze after a couple of seconds of resisting the young Reaper's absorbtion ability. It took a moment for its eyes to start flickering. This Alpha was very strong and probably very old.

The young Reaper had never been able to defeat an Alpha Grimm of any type like this. She usually tried to avoid fighting them but if a kill contract said to do so, she had to. No questions asked and no excuses or face severe consequences. Most of the time she hated assassinating people. Especially children. She received a contract to kill a whole family. Ruby wasn't bothered about the adults but the children she couldn't do it without closing her eyes. She was ordered to kill two adults and three children. One was aged fifteen, anoth aged seven and the youngest was only a baby, probably around eight months old. She couldn't bring herself to kill the children. When the contractors found out she had failed, her punishment was severe. As she remembered it, it was a few beatings a day for three months straight, being injected with different experimental fluids that burned her veins. That's why she never failed again. She made sure they wouldn't give her any kill contracts like that again and they didn't. Thankfully. 

After a few more moments, the Alpha Beowolf's eyes flickered out completely and it disappeared soon after. Ruby gave a sigh of relief as she looked towards the other seven of the group. They had all killed their Beowolves and stood watching her. 

Everyone noticed her blood red eyes instead of the usual silver ones as she walked back to them. Looks of confusion and fear passed on their faces before finally resting on confusion. The only one that had fear written all over their face was Weiss. She knew how dangerous and unpredictable Ruby was when she had absorbed a Grimm. 

"Erm, Ruby? Why are your eyes red?" Yang piped up, asking the question everyone was thinking. 

"I'll tell you later." the young Reaper simply said before lookin at Weiss as if to say don't say a thing or I will kill you. The look went unnoticed by everyone, thankfully. Weiss looked at Ruby with more fear plastered on her face and then looked down at the ground. 

"So, what are we gonna do about the Nevermore that just keeps circling us? Blake asked the group. Ruby looked up as did everyone else at the Nevermore. 

"I'll handle that," the young Reaper said. "You might want to stand back though, unless you want to get hit." Ruby explained, her face contorting into a menacing grin. She walked forwards a few steps and raised her sniper-scythe. Popping out the scope, she looked down it at the Nevermore and fired a shot laced with her aura and the Grimm’s destructive energy. 

It hit the bird Grimm in its left wing. It screeched out in pain as it started to descend. Before it plummeted to its death, it gained control of its wing and flew straight. Now it was lo enough for Ruby to blast it to hell. 

Putting her scythe behind her back, now in its sniper form, she raised both arms and started powering herself up. Her arms began to become engulfed by the black energy of the Grimm. She decided not to lace it with her aura this time, she had more than enough Grimm energy within her. 

Her body started to become enveloped by the energy. She was putting everything she had into this one attack so if she missed everyone would have to help her kill the Nevermore. 

The young Reaper felt every ounce of the Grimm energy drain into her blast. Once she felt satisfied, she released the entirety of it towards the Nevermore. Ruby thought it wasn't going to hit the target but by the luck of the universe, the Nevermore flew into the blasts path, enveloping it completely. It screeched and sqwarked as the Grimm energy began to take effect. Before everyone knew it, the Nevermore had been eliminated and only residual Grimm energy was left behind. 

Ruby felt dizzy but stayed standing and knew the lightheadedness would pass soon which it did. She looked around at the group of seven and saw looks of shock. Even Weiss was shocked at the level power Ruby had just shown. 

"I'll explain later," the young faunus said, walking passed them towards the cliff. The other seven began following and they made their way to the cliff with relics in hand and wondering what hell Ruby just did and what teams they were to be put in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 10 next. That will have edits in it but probably not many. Then chapter 11 as well. After that chapters 12 to 14 don’t need editing and I’ll put them up as soon as. Chapter 15 can then be published for the first time as well.  
> Anyways, happy reading! :)


	10. Family, Friends and Dickheads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby becomes the leader of her Team RWBY and she finally finds out if Yang is her long lost sister.
> 
> And a very disgusting cockroach starts with Ruby and wants a fight.  
> Are they sisters? Is Taiyang her father? What will Ruby do when she finds out?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor edit. Forgot this chapter is also pretty long.   
> I’ll get right onto chapter 11 after this one. Happy reading!

The group of eight had made it back to the top of the cliff. They now all stood in the Ceremony Hall amongst other students that had completed Initiation that day. Ozpin stood on the stage just above the students and announced each team and gave them a leader. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang were put into the same team. The new team being dubbed Team RWBY with Ruby as its leader. 

Weiss was fuming she did not get picked to be the leader and she wasn't very happy she had been put into the same team as young Reaper. It scared her to think that Ruby would now be able to take her life at any given moment if the young Reaper so pleased.

Ruby hated every second that passed. She hated the fact that she had been chosen as the leader of Team RWBY and she was partnered with the Schnee girl for the next four years. She also hated the fact that Weiss knew of her being a Reaper and what she could do. A new problem arose when she had to use her ability to defeat the giant Nevermore back in the Emerald Forest and show cased how powerful she really was to Yang and Blake. Now she had to explain to them both what she was and what abilities she had. But that would be done later on. Much later on.

Other teams were made throughout the ceremony and students stood atop the stage as their names were called out. Ozpin called out the names of the last team to be made which comprised of Jaune Arc, Nora Valkerie, Pyrrha Nikos and Lie Ren. Their team was dubbed JNPR (Juniper) with Jaune being the made the leader.

Everyone clapped and Ozpin concluded the ceremony and dismissed everyone from the large hall. Students filed out of the hall slowly and made their way to their new dorm rooms. Yang, Blake, and Weiss walked ahead as Ruby walked behind slowly and studied her new team-mates. 

They were certainly capable of killing Grimm but would they be a match against the young Reaper. Yang certainly might able to injure Ruby but Weiss wouldn’t be able to. She seems to be scared of the young faunus but she still posed a threat. Blake seemed a lot more chilled out than the other two. She was a threat too but not much of one. She seemed to have an understanding with Ruby. She was friendly enough not to warrant killing her. 

The young faunus had been contemplating all of this as they walked to their new dorm room. Dreading the next four years. Well, it was either this or go to prison. 

Before she knew it team RWBY stood in their new dorm room, the four girls got to work on decorating it. Well, apart from Ruby who just leaned against the door, silently watching the three older girls. Eventually, they all realized they wouldn't have enough room for all of their stuff. 

"Why don't we make bunk beds?" Ruby suggested brightly. 

"That actually, isn't a bad idea Ruby," Yang commented and stuck her thumbs up at the young Faunus. Ruby just rolled her eyes at the gesture.

Blake smiled softly and hinted she was definitely up for it and Weiss just stayed quiet not wanting to anger the young Faunus anymore than she already had in the Emerald Forest.

The white-haired girl didn't know what it was, but she had noticed that every time Ruby had absorbed Grimm energy, it was like she was a completely different person. Just full of hate and unsated rage. A different personality. Weiss had yet to see the real Ruby. The Ruby that didn't try to murder her and the Ruby that could possibly be sweet and kind. 

After building the bunk beds, each girl claimed one. Weiss on the bottom left with Ruby above her and Blake on the bottom right with Yang above her. Instead of testing out their beds, Yang, Blake, and Weiss sat on Blake's bed and waited for Ruby to start explaining what had happened in the Emerald Forest and how she had been able to blast the Nevermore into nothing.

Before the young Faunus could even utter a single word, the speakers outside the room crackled to life. Professor Goodwich spoke through them, requesting Yang and Ruby's presence in Ozpin's office.

Yang stood up quietly and walked towards the dorm room door with Ruby already gone. Weiss and Blake exchanged a look of concern, knowing full well what it was about.

Timeskip (seems I can’t get rid of this rn)

The red and yellow duo had made it to Ozpin's office a little later than they anticipated. The reason being was the new school bully had started throwing racial insults at the young Faunus. She did her best to ignore him but eventually, Yang grew tired of the boy bully and swung at him. Unfortunately, Ruby caught her arm before she could punch the boy's lights out and dragged her away. 

Ozpin was not impressed by the two girl's tardiness but kept quiet about it anyway. Both girls sat in a chair each in front of Ozpin's large desk, both wanting to know the answer to one question that had been bothering the two since Ruby lay in the infirmary.

Are Yang and Ruby sisters?

Ozpin cleared his throat, took a sip out of his ever-present mug and sighed. Professor Goodwitch stood just behind him to his left. Both professors had the same look on their faces; a neutral one.

The adult's neutral expressions only made Ruby nervous. Something wasn't right. Something is going on and she wants to know what. The more she thought about it the more nervous she became.

It wasn't often Ruby became nervous. The Grimm energy she absorbed always masked the feelings or the energy just didn't let her feel anything else but rage and hatred towards the world. For a time, Ruby had become accustomed to having Grimm energy stored within her and had barely ever let herself feel anything in the time she had been an assassin and Grimm hunter. Well, Grimm Reaper more like.

Ozpin cleared his throat again and spoke as calm as he ever did, "The results of the DNA test came back." he paused and took another sip from his mug and continued, "I can now inform you that Taiyang Xiao Long is..." he paused again when both girls looked at him eagerly. He really did not like breaking the spirits of children, but he had to say it and get it over and done with. "is...not your Father, Miss Rose."

The young Faunus didn't know how to react. Several different emotions flitted around her head, undecided on what to feel with the relayed news. Yang wasn't much different, but her emotions and facial expression finally settled on an upset one. Tears slowly forming in her eyes.

Eventually, Ruby's emotions settled on rage. The only emotion she could understand. She stood very quickly, causing her chair to go flying backward. "Who is my father then? Who the fuck am I? Why do I have similar memories to Yang? Who is my family?" she exclaimed angrily. Only the tears flowing down her face betrayed how she truly felt. She was angry but she was mostly upset. She only ever wanted a family. People to love. A mother, a father, and siblings but oh no, she had to be kidnapped and experimented on. Or maybe those memories are all fake. What if those memories of Yang, Tai and the woman in white were all just fake? That couldn't be possible. Could it?

The young Faunus began to break down bit by bit as her thoughts and emotions took over. She couldn't help but collapse onto her knees and sob loudly. Yang rose from her seat and wrapped the younger girl in a tight embrace. She held her there and rubbed gentle circles on her back, knowing it would help to calm the sobbing girl. 

"Shhh, it's alright Ruby. You can make a new one." Yang softly spoke into Ruby's right wolf ear. 

"H...ho...how?" the young Faunus spluttered through loud sobs.

"With your new team and new friends. Blood doesn't always mean family. Family is the friendships you make with the people you meet. Some leave your family, but others soon follow after and stay for a long time." Yang replied softly, soothing the younger girl.

At that, Ruby started to calm down and stop crying. She really hated the emotions she felt when she had no trace of Grimm in her. 

Now mostly calm, Ruby wiped the tears away from her face and looked up at Yang. The older girl was also crying. 

The red and yellow duo turned their heads towards the sound of a throat clearing and noticed Ozpin and Professor Goodwich were staring at them. Ozpin had a slight smile on his and Goodwich looked like she was about to cry herself, but she managed to hold back her own emotions.

"I am going to take into consideration that you have memories similar to Miss Xiao Long and search into what is going on. But I have a gut feeling I know who your father could be, Miss Rose." Ozpin explained. 

Ruby's wolf ears perked up at the explanation and asked, "Who do you think it could be, Professor?"

"Let's just say a dusty old Qrow, who owes me a favour or two. I will call for you both when I have news. You are dismissed for now. Enjoy the rest of your evening, girls." Ozpin said with a smile.

Yang and Ruby turned on their heel and walked out of the office. Both of their faces were red and their eyes puffy and tired. 

Instead of going back to the dorm room both girls made their way to the cafeteria. Ruby wanted to see if they had any cookies and Yang just wanted to keep an eye on the younger girl. 

Ruby walked to the end of the queue and looked around at the display of food. She was almost about to give up on looking for cookies when she spotted them in the middle of the dessert display. At that, she knew she would be able to cheer herself up with a dozen or so cookies and a glass of milk. 

After retrieving more than a dozen cookies and a glass of milk, the young Faunus made her way to a table where Yang had sat down. It seemed Weiss and Blake had joined her whilst Ruby was getting her milk and cookies. Not only were her own team at the table but team JNPR sat there on the opposite side. Ruby sighed under her breath as she sat down. She would have preferred it if she were alone with just Yang but oh well. Guess it's time she made friends and maybe create a family of her own in a way.

As the cookie-loving Faunus scarfed her cookies down, she felt something hit the back of her head. Putting the rest of the current cookie in her mouth, she reached round to the back of her head and felt something squishy and slimy. It was not a nice feeling at all. She pulled her hand back in front of her face to inspect what it was and saw it was some sort of food. Cottage Pie maybe?

She looked around behind her and noticed a group of boys snickering to themselves. Team CRDL (Cardinal) sat at the table behind the young Faunus' group. Cardin, their leader looked over to Ruby and gave her a small smug smile that was full of mischief and something else. It looked something like hate filling his eyes. 

Ruby sighed under her breath again and turned back around and wiped the slimy glob of food stuck to the back of her head away. Not long after, however, another glob of the same food struck the back of her head again. This time, she turned and stared Cardin and his team down who were laughing harder as Ruby's black and red tipped hair was now covered in the suspected cottage pie.

She chose to ignore the imbeciles and wiped it away again after turning away from them. Before she could pick another cookie up, another larger glob of food hit the back of her head. Now she was pissed. Once, she can handle just fine and ignore it. Twice is pushing it and three times is going well over the line.

This time around, she picked the glob of food from the back of her head, stood up and turned around and threw it straight into Cardin's face who had been laughing way too hard. It made the bully stop laughing and glare at the young faunus.

"What the fuck is your problem, Cardin?" Ruby spat out at the considerably taller boy.

"I don't know what you're talking about, freak." Cardin said sarcastically and smugly smiled.

"Oh, I think you do, you giant prick!" the young faunus sneered. One thing she couldn't ignore was the name given to her. Freak. If anyone was the freak, it was him. He was the tallest and broadest first year student anyone had seen in a long time.

"Who the fuck, do you think you're calling a prick you fucking dumb dirty animal!?" the tall blue-eyed boy yelled, making everyone at Ruby's table glare at him.

"HEY! That was uncalled for!" Blake yelled back, standing up and standing between the taller boy and Ruby. Yang also stood up from her seat and faced Cardin off with Blake. "You wanna say that again you racist little shit?" yang seethed, her lilac eyes turning red.

"Ha! How is it racist if it's true?" Cardin asked a little too smugly.

"Because it is you fuckwit!" Blake exclaimed, stepping up to Cardin and squaring up to him. He just smiled as he sat down on the cafeteria bench, enjoying every minute of harassing the group.

"Ermmm, guys? I can handle him myself you know?" Ruby piped up from behind Yang and Blake. She was incredibly surprised to see Blake of all people sticking up for her. The older faunus was usually much more reserved. Maybe Cardin had pushed far too many buttons this time. 

"Hahaha!" Cardin laughed, "You really think an animal like you could go up against someone so perfect like me? Keep dreaming."

"Actually, I could, and I can guarantee I'd beat the shit out of you," the young faunus said, stepping around the bumblebee pair. "So, what's your problem with me then Cardin?" she asked, daring him to make another racist comment.

The boy looked so smug Ruby wanted nothing more than to rip out his throat as he said, "You freaks shouldn't be allowed in this school or any school for that matter. All you do is leave your animal germs around. You should all be put in chains and caged like the filthy animals you are!" 

A loud SLAP echoed through the Cafeteria, making everyone in it look around and watch the drama unfold. Everyone never expected someone as quiet, calm and collected as Blake to respond with violence. The secretive faunus had slapped Cardin so hard, his head whipped to the side. 

The taller blue-eyed stood up angrily and shouted, "YOU BITCH! YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT!" Cardin raised his clenched fist and swung towards Blake's face but instead of it colliding with the raven-haired girl's pale features, a hand holding the boy's arm back.

All three teams looked at the scruffy man with a shocked expression. He had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Ruby stepped back behind the black and yellow pair, making sure she wasn't noticed by the man.

She studied him carefully. The man had greying black hair, dull red eyes and slight stubble along his jawline. He wore a tattered red cloak, a grey dress shirt that was untucked from his black dress pants. His black dress shoes looked worn but still wearable and slightly shiny.

'Who the hell is this man?' Ruby asked herself in her thoughts, 'Why does he seem familiar to me?'

"Ya know, it's not very polite to raise a hand to woman, no matter what's she done. If a woman hits ya, you deserved it." The red-eyed man spoke, startling everyone except Ruby and Yang.

"Uncle Qrow? What are doing here?" Yang asked with pure curiosity.

"Seems the ol' wizard wants to talk about something important enough for him to drag me out of Signal and he wants a favour too. No idea what though," the man now known as Qrow said. 

"Ah okay. Probably something like a secret mission maybe?" Yang inquired casually.

"As I said, no idea. And you..." he said, turning to Cardin, "If I ever see or hear of you going to strike a woman without good cause, I'll come down on ya like a tonne of bricks!" the seasoned man threatened. Cardin turned a pale white, nodded and scurried away with his team of bafoons.

"How long ya staying for Uncle Qrow?" Yang questioned her Uncle.

"Not long. Well, I hope. I've students to teach back at Signal," he explained and then turned on his heel and began to walk away. "I'll see ya later firecracker. Behave yaself!"

"See ya Uncle Qrow!" Yang shouted as the dishevelled man walked away and out of sight.

As soon as Qrow left, Ruby's scroll pinged. Signaling a new message, she dove into her satchel and brought the message up on the screen. It read, 'Don't think it's over freak. I'll be coming for you when you least expect it!'

The young faunus furrowed her brows and simply replied, 'Yeah right Cardin. See you when I expect it. 😊'

"Hey Rubes, who was that?" the blonde-haired girl inquired trying to look at the message upside down. "Cardin. That little prick!" she yelled.

"I'll handle him. Don't worry Yang. He's easily tempered and will be easy to defeat that way." The young faunus said, smiling at Yang. "Well, I'm done here. See you later in the dorm." And with that, Ruby left a bewildered Yang and a furious Blake and team JNPR and zipped out of the cafeteria, leaving red rose petals behind.

Ruby had decided to hunt some Grimm in the Emerald Forest to try and let off some steam. Only the Grimm energy she absorbed made her much more angry hateful towards Cardin and anyone that would call her own kind animals and freaks.

She was currently sat on her own in the dorm room, on the floor with tools of different sizes strewn around and of course, her precious Crescent Rose lay on her lap. The young faunus thought it a good idea to do some minor maintenance on her weapon, like checking the screws, nuts and bolts were fine and sharpening the blade of her scythe. Although, the blade didn't really need to be sharpened anymore than it was. It could already cleanly slice through a person's body or even a giant Nevermore's wings.

The young faunus was concentrating so much, she didn't hear nor notice Weiss come into the dorm room. She heard a throat clearing and looked up to see the white-haired girl standing a couple of meters away from her, a stern look on her face.

"Yes?" Ruby queried the white-haired girl.

"Don't fight Cardin if he attacks you or tries to egg you on. It'll only prove to people how much of an animal you really are," the ivory-haired girl said and soon regretted it as the young Reaper shot up in a flash, dragged the older girl down to the floor and held a very sharp looking screw-driver to her throat.

The young Reaper lay on top of the older girl, inevitably pinning her to the floor. She pushed the screwdriver into Weiss' throat ever so slightly, making a small amount of blood pool on the girl's neck. 

"You might want to rephrase what you just said," the young Reaper said menacingly, leaning in close to Weiss' left ear.

"I...I...mean...meant...to...to say..." Weiss stuttered, fearing for her life. Although, the position they were in would've been hot if the young reaper didn't have a screwdriver pointed to her throat. Weiss's cheeks began to tint a slight pink but thankfully, Ruby didn't seem to notice.

"Well spit it out then!" the angry sadistic wolf sneered.

"I...I...meant to say you...you would be prov...proving to Cardin you...you are a...an animal when you’re clearly not." The ivory-haired stuttered out and hoped for the sake of her life her answer was what the young Reaper wanted.

Satisfied, Ruby pulled the sharp screwdriver away from the older girl's throat and pulled herself away from Weiss' ear but remained hovering over her. The young Reaper leaned down into Weiss' neck and stuck her tongue out, trailing it along the older girl's pale pristine skin.

She felt Weiss shudder from under her and a knowing smile crept across her face. "Hmm, you seem to like that Princess. You want more?" Ruby whispered seductively into Weiss' ear. 

Weiss shuddered again at the thought of Ruby doing much more intimate things to her. It was a good sort of shudder, but she still feared for her life. She did indeed want more from the young faunus. Her dominating behaviour was started to make Weiss feel a certain heat and wetness travel into her nether regions.

Before Weiss could respond, Ruby backed off and sat back in front of her weapon as the dorm room door slowly swung open. Weiss sat up quickly, her face burned a bright red and her breathing slightly erratic. She tried to calm herself but to no avail as Ruby was looking at her with seductive blood-red eyes. 

'Gods, why do I want to be dominated by Ruby so much? I don't even like her yet she's just so... NO WEISS, stop thinking like that. It isn't right for a Schnee to think such lewd thoughts.' The white-haired girl scolded herself.

The door was now fully open and stood in the doorway was Yang. The red in her cheeks proved she knew what had just happened. 'Was she listening to us or something?' the heiress asked herself and started blushing again. She looked away from Yang and took a glance at Ruby who was now working on her sniper-scythe again.

After an hour of just sitting in silence and the occasional noise from Ruby doing maintenance on her weapon, the young faunus packed her tools up, stood up and walked out of the dorm room with Crescent Rose. Weiss could've sworn she heard Ruby sigh just as she got to the door.

Weiss got up from the floor and proceeded to her bed, picking up a book on the way. She sat down and started reading from a Grimm studies book, thinking nothing more of what had transpired throughout the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this chapter. New and old readers. Any errors let me know.
> 
> And I’d like to thank akakumu43 for the amazing CR fan art of our lovely wolf Reaper. You can find it on their tumblr. Which is the same username as what I’ve just typed. Happy reading everyone :)


	11. Reaper’s Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby faces off against Team CRDL. Will she be able to resist killing them? Or will she do the deed?  
> Ruby and Yang also find out whether or not they are related and find out who Ruby's father really is. What will Ruby do when she finds out the truth?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven’t edited this chapter. Its around 5000 words and I don’t really feel like editing it rn. It will get an edit at some point but not any time soon.

As Ruby exited the dorm, she sighed in frustration to herself. The possibility of having to fight Cardin was one thing that wasn't bothering the young faunus very much. It was nothing she couldn't handle. It was the fact she would have to hold back on killing the taller boy, which she didn't know if she could restrain herself from doing.

Then there was all the pent-up rage and hatred she always came to have after absorbing Grimm. She hated the fact that her personality changed, and her team would have suffer through it all. All she felt like doing was destroying everything in her path, but she knew better than to do something so idiotic. 

One team-mate was already suffering from her switch in personality and overly aggressive nature. Now she wasn't alone in the world, the young faunus began to hate herself for what she was. Yes, it was handy in a fight against Grimm but not against her team. Maybe they could all become friends one day but not with how she was with them. Especially Weiss.

The young faunus strolled along the corridors of the dorm building, knowing full well she was being watched. She had a feeling she knew who it was but didn't bother to look around and just kept walking. She finally made it outside and activated her semblance to throw whoever was following her off.

The young faunus stopped abruptly in the main courtyard at the sight of someone familiar, obviously waiting for her. Russel Thrush was stood in the courtyard eyeing the young faunus with his two daggers drawn. 

Ruby stared the older boy down, daring him to make a move. All he did was smirk a malicious smirk. Something was wrong, very wrong. Ruby's wolf ears twitched slightly, and she knew instantly there was someone behind her.

The young Reaper disappeared in a flurry of rose petals and reappeared behind Russel. Before the boy could react and turn around, Ruby armed herself with Crescent Rose and hit him on the side of the head with the sniper form, knocking him out instantly.

She looked up at where she was previously stood and saw Cardin stood there with his mace raised above his head, looking rather dumbstruck. Lucky she had moved when she did or she'd have had her head smashed in. 

As Ruby stared at Cardin, a long dark blue halberd came into her peripheral vision to her left. A Hallstatt sword came from the right simultaneously. With no time to think, block or activate her semblance she activated the one thing she could in time. It was much faster than her semblance and faster than her physical reflexes. 

Although it wouldn't kill them it would knock them back a few feet. She had only needed to use it twice before and both were on Grimm which is what it was mainly lethal against. 

The young Reaper activated the Grimm energy within her without a second thought or any sort of delay. Instead of it enveloping her arms, a thin layer shrouded around her body before expelling in a single powerful but none-lethal blast. Luckily, it was just in time as the weapons were very close to striking her down.

Her opponents flew backwards a few feet and landed onto their backs with an audible thump and clatter as their weapons also dropped to the ground. She looked at both of her attackers and realised they were the other half of team CRDL. Dove and Sky.

Disappearing in a flurry of red rose petals once again, Cardin looked around nervously. Dove and Sky stood up and brushed themselves off only for one of the boys, Dove, to be tripped by the young Reaper with her scythe. 

The pissed off teen was not going to make this easy for them and disappeared again, leaving a small trail of petals behind. Dove stood up again and all three boys looked around, expecting the young Reaper to appear behind any one of them. 

Which she did and tripped Sky with her scythe this time but brought the blunt end of her scythe down on the side of his head. That left two to play with. Dove swung his Hallstatt sword at the younger girl, she deflected it and disappeared again.

"COME OUT YOU COWARD!" Cardin yelled, gaining other student's attention.

Ruby appeared next to Cardin and smiled evilly at him. He was way too slow to react to Ruby tripping him over. She wanted to toy with Cardin a little longer but needed to take care of the idiot on his team.

She disappeared again and left Dove to start panicking on where she would turn up next. He somehow knew he was to be next, but Ruby didn't realise he was planning on luring her out by acting very panicked.

To his surprise it worked and lucky for him he figured out where she would appear and blocked her next strike. He heard her growl in frustration before she disappeared again. He now knew of her attack patterns and could easily block her and maybe even counterattack.

What he didn't expect was her next moves. She appeared briefly before disappearing again and reappearing in a different spot. She kept doing that and eventually the older boy gave up. He simply let her strike him in the back of the head, knocking him out too. Three down, one to go.

By now a crowd of students had gathered to watch the fight. Including Team JNPR and the rest of Team RWBY. Yang cheered Ruby on whilst Blake and Weiss stood silently, watching carefully. The students either cheered or jeered at Ruby but it didn't bother her. The fact that her team were watching her.

This distraction cost the young faunus. If she were against Grimm or a much stronger opponent, she would have definitely been knocked out or worse. Cardin had made his way over to her without her noticing. Next thing she knew, the taller boy had smashed his mace into the side of head with no hesitation whatsoever.

She flew a few meters to her side and landed hard on her side. Her scythe landed not too far from her. Thankfully. She tried to get onto her hand and knees but was kicked in the stomach by Cardin. She rolled over and grunted as the taller boy winded her. She was already dazed by the blow to the head. 

Cardin stepped in front of her with his feet not far from her head. The taller boy raised his weapon above his head, intending to strike the young Reaper's head and kill her. 

The young Reaper looked up at the taller boy as he raised his mace. Still dazed and hardly able to breath, panic began to set in. The young faunus had never really been in a panic before. Not even when all odds were stacked against her in a fire fight or needing to escape from a high security dust experimtation facility. 

As the panic set in, an adrenaline boost came with it: enabling the young Reaper to activate her semblance and move out of the way just as Cardin swung his mace down towards her head. 

All that remained was a few rose petals floating down gently to the ground. Cardin stayed in his hunched over position and stared, dumbstruck at the young faunus' unpredicted movement. After a more seconds, he straightened up and heard a low clunk of a large weapon behind him. The unpopular bully went to turn his head to look at the person behind him. Out of his peripheral vision, Ruby Rose stood tall with her deadly weapon in one hand. She ha a menacing, murderous look in her blood red eyes. 

Cardin turned around fully to face the young Reaper. He saw the pure intent to kill him in her eyes. He stumbled back and dropped his mace out of fear and instinct to survive against the young Reaper. 

Ruby took her chance to strike and swung her fully formed scythe back and lunged towards the taller boy, intending to end his miserable excuse of a life. She swung her scythe forwards at full force to the boy's side, intending to cut him in half. 

Cardin closed his eyes and prepared himself for death. His eyes snapped open as the sound of metal clanking against metal reverberated throughout the courtyard. 

Stood between Cardin and Ruby was the same dishevelled man from the cafeteria. His own weapon drawn and blocking the young Reaper's scythe. It was also a scarily dangerous scythe that also came into being a very long, broad sword. The only other difference was that his scythe had a shotgun attachment instead of a sniper rifle.

Qrow stood to the side with his fully formed scythe blocking Ruby's that was just shy of Cardin's right side. Cardin stepped back but tripped on his ow feet in the process and landed on his behind. Fear was raging in the boy's eyes as he shuffled back to get away from the murderous glare Ruby's was still giving him. 

"Stand down at once!" Ozpin's voice called over the murmur of students that were still watching the dramatic events unfold. 

Ozpin came marching over with a look of disappointment and a look nobody had ever seen appear over the usually friendly face of the headmaster. Anger. Pure, primitive rage could be felt through the ageing headmaster's aura. It was incredibly intimidating for everyone, including Ruby. 

The young faunus dropped her scythe and backed up, whimpering at the rage filled aura surrounding her. Qrow grabbed hold of her arm before she could activate her semblance and make an escape. The young faunus' mind instantly went into overdrive. She tried to pull her arm free but was met with a stronger resistance. 

"Miss Rose, I suggest not resisting," Professor Goodwich said sternly. 

Ruby stopped resisting after seeing she was greatly out matched. She was tired, her aura was almost drained and she couldn't bring herself to use any Grimm energy against the headmaster and two other professors that stood with him. 

Goodwich, Ozpin, Qrow and the other professor, Port, walked slowly around the rogue Reaper. Now she was surrounded by experienced and well seasoned hunters that could take her down in no time. 

"Come quietly Miss Rose and we won't have to use any lethal force," Ozpin spoke with disappointment dripping through every word. 

Ruby finally found her voice but it was shaky and full of fear. Something she hadn't felt for a long time and it didn't sit well with her at all. "But I didn't do anything wrong!" she shouted shakily. 

"As I said, come quietly and we won't have to use any lethal force," Ozpin repeated. 

Qrow kept his grip on the young faunus but a confused look ran across his face at the mention of Ruby's surname. 'It can't be. Can it? Her surname cannot be Rose.' Qrow thought, trying to sate his confusion. 

Ruby tried to step forwards but Yang, Blake and Weiss appeared out of nowhere and stood in front of her. Qrow let go of the young faunus' arm and stepped away without a word, noticing the look the three girls wore. 

"As far as we're concerned, she was just defending herself and reiterating what Cardin intended to do with her," Weiss spoke, defending the young faunus' actions. 

"I think we need to speak about this in my office. Talking with you right now will most likely not get us anywhere as you are adamant on defending Miss Rose." The ageing headmaster replied and proceeded to lower his weapon. The three other professors also lowered their weapons but stayed wary of Ruby and what she could possibly do. 

Ruby stared at the backs of her team, shocked they were defending her and possibly stopping her from being expelled and taken to the rogue hunters prison. Yang stepped behind Ruby whilst Weiss and Blake stepped to either side of her. 

"Ruby, let's go," Yang said, prodding Ruby in the back lightly. 

Ruby reciprocated and began walking, her team falling in step and making sure no one would try to attack them or pull Ruby away. They walked slowly as Qrow a followed up from behind but kept his distance, Goodwich and Port took up both sides also making sure to keep some distance. Ozpin took up the front, turning on his heel and walking through the students who parted as Tey walked through. 

"Go back to your dorm rooms!" Ozpin called out and then added, "If anyone has a video of this incident, come to my office as well."

No one moved at first but soon four students stepped forwards and followed the group of eight from the rear looking very nervous about what awaits them in the headmaster's office. 

Time-skip

Team RWBY now sat in Ozpin's office in hard uncomfortable chairs whilst Ozpin sat in his very comfortable headmasters chair with Goodwich stood next to him with a stern look on her face. 

No one spoke or made a sound. Ozpin and Goodwich were watching the videos of the fight the four students had taken. Those students had already been dismissed back to their dorm rooms. 

Ozpin tapped a few times on his desk, bringing up CCTV footage of just before the fight had started. He watched intently and saw Ruby appear in the courtyard where Russel was also stood with his daggers drawn. 

After some time of watching the fight play out, the ageing headmaster switched the transparent monitor off and sighed deeply. "I apologise for the threats of lethal force Miss Rose. We weren't certain about what had happened beforehand to elicit such a reaction from you. Did you, in all honesty, intend to kill Mr Winchester?" Ozpin said, now looking at Ruby. 

"Yes because he was..." Ruby said but was immediately interrupted by Ozpin. 

"That is enough to hear. I know why you wanted to kill him Miss Rose. Qrow told me what happened in the cafeteria earlier this afternoon. I also know Mr Winchester intended to kill you as well. But by no means does all of that get you out of what you almost did Miss Rose," Ozpin explained, his voice and facial expression staying stern. 

"But..." Ruby tried

"No buts Miss Rose. You could have walked away from it all without fighting or causing harm to your fellow classmates. Mr Winchester and his team will be punished accordingly for their actions with a swift expelling from the academy. You and your team however, will be punished another way. I am not certain how thus far but I will think of something fitting." The ageing headmaster concluded, looking between the four girls who weren't making eye contact. 

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence once again. Ruby continued to look at anything but Ozpin and her team, finding the shiny floor much more interesting. Weiss kept her gaze up from the floor but still avoided Ozpin's gaze. Yang found an interest in what was happening outside the large windows. Blake just stared off into space, thinking about the next novel she could read. 

Finally, Weiss spoke up, startling the three other girls as she said, "I've just thought of something. Why are we to be punished along with Ruby when we haven't done anything wrong?"

Ozpin raised his brow and replied, "I see you don't see yourself in the wrong but you stepping in earlier is enough to warrant a punishment. Although I have to commend you three for defending your team mate and leader without question. That is why I am struggling to come up with a suitable punishment." The grey-haired headmaster explained not just to Weiss but to all four girls.

"So let me get this straight, we're getting punished for defending Ruby that could've turned out much worse than it did?" Yang questioned, her logic making sense for once. 

"Yes," Ozpin simply said, "Miss Schnee and Miss Belladonna you are dismissed for now. I need to speak with Miss Rose and Miss Xiao Long." He finished. 

Yang and Ruby looked at each other and then looked at Weiss and Blake as the black and white duo stood to leave. Weiss looked back at Ruby and gave her a concerned look before walking out of the office after Blake.

Everyone sat in silence once again until they were certain they were alone. There was only Ozpin, Goodwich, Ruby and Yang in the large room. The large cogs far above their heads could be heard turning, a low and dull tick of the clock sounded around the silent office. 

Finally, Ozpin interrupted the low ticks and turning of cogs and said, "I asked you stay behind as I have information you both might find interesting."

The red and yellow duo looked towards the ageing headmaster with curiosity striking across their faces.

"Is it why my Uncle Qrow is here?" Yang asked curiously. 

"Indeed it is Miss Xiao Long. This information may be quite emotional for you both. And speaking of Qrow, where in Remnant is he?" Ozpin said looking around his office for the greying crow. 

"I'm here," Qrow's voice rang out from nowhere. 

Ruby and Yang both looked around the office. The young wolf faunus spotted and figure stood against the wall in a shadowy part of the room. The figure walked forward to reveal the scruffy greying man of Qrow. 

"I assume you were listening in on the conversation?" Ozpin inquired. 

"Yep," Qrow said, popping the 'p' and walking closer to the group of four. 

"So, what's this information?" the young faunus questioned, her curiosity peeking. 

Ozpin looked between Ruby and Qrow and finally settled on looking at the cookie-loving teen. "It is on who your father is." Ozpin said, pausing whilst Yang, Ruby and Qrow looked puzzled and even more curious. Ruby tilted her head after curiosity took over. Ozpin continued, "Your farther, Miss Rose is the man stood behind you." He simply said. 

Ruby, Yang and Qrow swivelled their heads towards each other and then back to Ozpin and then back to each other. Not one of them believing what was just said. Ozpin knew this would happen and brought out a small folder, throwing lightly onto the table with a slap. 

Yang went to grab the small folder but Ruby beat her to it, opening it and looking at the information on the page. 

The page read:

DNA test results. 

Participants: Qrow Branwen, Ruby Rose

DNA test type: Paternal

Results: DNA match

Conclusion: The DNA samples taken from both Mr Branwen and Miss Rose were thoroughly tested to determine whether or not Mr Branwen is Miss Rose's biological father. Although difficult to test the DNA of Reaper's through having elements of Grimm present (most likely due to the fact of absorbing the energy of Grimm), the results determined that Mr Branwen is in fact Miss Rose's biological father. This also determines Miss Rose and Miss Xiao Lon are cousins. 

Signed

Professor Ozpin

Ruby stared at the information on the page. She kept reading through it, still not believing the information. Eventually, the young faunus passed the folder to Yang who also read through it. 

Yang looked up at Ozpin and then looked at Ruby. The one thing that caught her attention was the thing about Reaper's. She had a feeling that Ruby was somehow still related to her but still didn't expect her Uncle Qrow to be Ruby's dad. She closed the folder and handed it to Qrow who patiently waited for his turn to read it. 

The scruffy greying man had a similar reaction to Ruby; staring at the page and rereading the information a few times. Eventually, he signed as he put the folder back on the table with a slap. 

The room fell into another uncomfortable silence for what felt like hours but in fact it was only a few minutes. 

"Miss Rose, I have a feeling you do not believe Qrow is your father?" he asked the young faunus. 

The girl in question looked up to Ozpin but didn't utter a word. Instead, Yang spoke, "I believe it but I have a question."

"Of course. Go ahead." Ozpin simply said. 

"What's a Reaper?" the blonde-haired girl asked. 

Ozpin thought for a moment before saying, "I think Miss Rose will need to explain that part. Qrow also has some explaining to do to not only you Miss Rose but Miss Xiao Long as well." The ageing headmaster explained. 

Qrow stayed silent the whole time and just listened. He was also thinking over everything, the fact that this faunus girl was his daughter and was a spitting image of Summe, apart from the wolf ears and tail. To top it all off, the faunus girl was a Reaper with silver eyes. Qrow was also a Reaper, though not as powerful as Summer had been. The aura the young faunus gave off confirmed that she was indeed Summer's daughter as well. 

Ruby was the secret love child between Qrow and Summer. Of course after Yang's mother had left Taiyang and a very young Yang, Summer had taken it upon herself to help with raising Yang and healing Tai's broken heart but eventually she fell in love with Tai, leaving Qrow behind. In the short time of being around Tai and allying in love with him, Summer found out she was pregnant with Ruby and wanted to cover up the fact that Qrow is the father. Qrow knew this from the start of course and always tried to avoid bringing anything up and always tried not to be in his daughters life. 

"Is there anything any would like to say or ask?" Ozpin finally said, startling Yang, Ruby and Qrow. When no one spoke he said, "You girls are dismissed then."

Ruby was the first to stand and walk out of the office. The door stayed open as she stopped, looked back at Yang and Qrow and activated her semblance, disappearing in a flurry of rose petals. 

"Ruby! Wait!" Yang called out as Ruby disappeared. She ran after her but bumped into Weiss instead. 

"Watch it!" the alabaster girl yelled. 

"Ruby's ran off. We just found out something that Ruby can't seem to accept." Yang yelled back, her eyes beginning to turn red. 

"Shit. I'll go after her." Weiss said a bit calmer, panic setting in, replacing the anger. The ivory-haired girl began to walk away quickly and eventually went into a sprint. 

"Yang?" Qrow's voice called out to the blonde-haired girl. 

Yang began to walk away from him. He followed her to her dorm room anyway. Blake was sat on her bed reading a novel. She looked up to see Yang's red eyes and instantly put her book down. 

"Yang? What's wrong? " the raven-haired girl asked, concerned for the blonde girl. 

Yang didn't say a thing, instead tears flowed out of her eyes and down her face. She fell to her knees and brought her hands to her face and sobbed into them, hard. 

Yang didn't know whether to be happy, sad or angry. She didn't know what to do. Ruby just ran off without a word and Qrow had been lying to them both the whole time.

Blake knelt down next to the sobbing blonde and embraced her. She rubbed Yang's back in circles to comfort her. "It's alright Yang. Do you wanna talk about it?" Blake asked softly into Yang's ear. 

The blubbering blonde nodded slowly but still didn't speak as she couldn't form any words through her sobbing.

Qrow stood by the door and watched his niece cry her heart out. He slowly turned on his heel and left, closing the door quietly on his way out. 

Weiss' POV

Weiss had looked everywhere for the young faunus, to no avail. She says everywhere but she hadn't checked the Emerald Forest. The white-haired girl made her way to the dorm room, deciding to pack a few warm clothes for Ruby and herself. She also packed hers and Ruby's sleeping bags into a large pack. 

After doing that, she slung the pack over her shoulder and made her way to the Emerald Forest. 

By the time she got there, it was beginning to get dark. She needed to find Ruby as soon as possible. She had no idea where to start looking but suddenly got an idea of where she could be. 

During Initiation, Weiss had seen a cave when her and Rose rode on the back of a Nevermore. If Weiss had seen it, Ruby must have seen it too. So, she made her way through the Grimm infested forest, her rapier at the ready. 

An hour later

Weiss finally made it to the cave, although it had taken her an hour. She peered into the dark cave and couldn't see anything. Luckily, she had also packed a dust powered torch. She flicked it on and stepped into the cave, careful not to stir whatever could be inside. She hoped Ruby would be in the cave. 

After walking for what seemed like forever, she made it to the end of the cave without coming across anything, not even any Grimm. She turned on her heel, ready to walk out of the cave and give up but a sound to her left made her stop in her tracks. She turned her dust torch towards where the sound had come from. 

In a small area she had missed was a crack small enough to fit a small person through. She could fit through it and see what's inside. Then she thought, Ruby could also fit through the gap. 

She crawled through the small gap and straightened her dress out. She heard the sound again but it was much closer than before. Weiss illuminated the small area and curled up in the far corner was Ruby. Weiss figured out what the sound was she had heard. Ruby was crying her eyes out. How long had she been here for? 

"Ruby?" Weiss said softly so as not to startle the young faunus. 

Ruby looked up suddenly, clearly not expecting anyone. "W...Weiss?" Ruby stuttered through a sob. 

"yeah, it's me Ruby. What's wrong?" Weiss asked, her voice like her soft freshly fallen white snow. The ivory-haired girl walked slowly towards the young faunus and noticed the tear streaks on her cheeks, puffy red eyes and flushed face from hours of crying. 

The young faunus sat up as Weiss sat down next to her. "So, what's wrong? Do you want to talk about it?" Weiss asked in the same voice. 

"I...I suppose," she stuttered out through another sob. 

Weiss wasn't exactly the best at comforting someone but knew this was the part where she should embrace the younger girl. Which she did with no resistance. 

Ruby sank into the embrace and sobbed more but eventually calmed down enough to explain why she had ran off and what was causing her so much strife. So Ruby went onto explain the DNA results and found out her father was also a Reaper who had also lied to her and Yang about who he really was. 

"It's just not fair! Why did he lie to not just me but Yan as well. I might not remember much from my childhood but I sure hell now remember him saying he's my Uncle. Why didn't my mum say anything?" Ruby asked no on in particular, her anger starting to take over the sadness. 

Weiss sat and listened carefully, fully understanding where the young faunus was coming from. In a way, she understood Ruby's circumstances and feelings. She had been lied to so many times by her own father. She was just his pawn in his game. That's one reason why she came to Beacon in the first place, to escape her father's hold on her. 

Suddenly, Ruby got up and swung her first against the hard wall. Weiss stood up instantly and wrapped Ruby in another warm embrace. This time the ivory-harmed girl wasn't scared of the young faunus. She felt sorry for her as she understood her anger, her pain, everything she was feeling. 

"Shhh, it's alright Ruby. It will all be alright. It may not seem like it now but trust me, it will be." Weiss said soothingly, Breaking the embrace and walking Ruby back into the main cave. 

It was pitch black inside and outside the cave so Weiss decided to get to work on finding wood for a fire near the cave and set up camp for the night. She put the sleeping bags together so Ruby didn't feel like she was alone. Besides, Weiss wanted to be the best partner and best team mate to her young leader. Thankfully Ruby had calmed down enough to help set up the temporary camp. 

They both lay in their sleeping bags but later decided to use one as a matt to sleep on top of and use the other to sleep in together. Although it was awkward at first, they soon found solace laying next to one another. 

"Weiss?" Ruby whispered just in case the white-haired girl was asleep. 

"Yes Ruby?" she replied back. 

"Erm...thank you for you know...the comfort and just being here." The younger girl whispered softly, blushing in process. 

Weiss also blushed but said, "You...you're welcome Ruby. I need to speak to you about something when we wake up too but for now don't worry about and just sleep."

"Alright. Goodnight Weiss." The young faunus said, closing her eyes before shivering from the cold. 

"Goodnight Ruby," Weiss replied back and also closed her eyes.

Just as the Heiress was drifting off to sleep Ruby spoke again, "Um...Weiss? You awake?"

"I was drifting off but what's the matter?" Weiss said tiredly, yawning after she spoke. 

"Um...co...could I cuddle up to you?" Ruby asked, blushing a deeper red than her Crimson cloak. 

Weiss opened her eyes fully and blushed just as hard as the young faunus. 

"I'm cold you see and..." Ruby started but Weiss interrupted her. 

"Sure. I'm quite cold anyway and it will help to preserve heat," she finally said after a moment to think and a moment to compose herself. 

With that, Ruby turned over onto her side, pressing herself against the older girl and wrapping her arm over her. They stayed in the spooning cuddle position for some time until Ruby heard Weiss' breathing become a slow and steady pace and soon found herself following the alabaster girl into slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that leave chapter 11 done for now.   
> Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Even if there are no new edits to it. 
> 
> Follow my editor and I on tumblr for updates and snippets on chapters from CR and Divine Destiny’s. 
> 
> pookirove   
> rwbyfan1997 are our tumblr pages.


	12. New Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss and Ruby wake up in the cave. Ruby explains the nightmare she had and Weiss explains what her family are like and what had caused her to be so hateful towards faunus. Ruby and Weiss discover something that might help Ruby figure out who took her as a child. What will they do? Will figure it all out before it's too late?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No edits on this one again. Just wanting to get the previously lost chapters back on here I suppose. Then it’s on with publishing chapter 15.  
> Anyways, enjoy the chapter

The sun was beginning to climb over the horizon when Weiss finally stirred; the cold, surprisingly, waking her from a dreamless slumber. The feeling was foreign: strange and uncomfortable as she hadn't felt the cold since she was nine years old. Around the time her grandmother passed away. 

Weiss opened her sleep filled eyes and was met with near darkness. She was close to panicking when a warm breath caressed her face.

As her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness of the cave, shapes in the dim began to reveal themselves. Thin, chapped lips were tilted down and quivered imperceptibly.

Weiss' eyes lingered for a moment--she recognised those rough bitten lips- her fingers reached up of their own accord: how would they feel to...?  
She shook herself out of the reverie, her gaze moving upwards to see the outline of a soft button nose and further up to closed eyes and furrowed brows, until finally stopping above the head.

Movement caught her eye; fluffy lupine ears twitched every so often. The young faunus growled in her sleep, a whimper escaping those bitten lips soon after. It was quite cute, Weiss thought, until the young faunus suddenly began to thrash about. Ruby was having a nightmare.

Weiss immediately sprang into action. "Ruby, wake up," the older girl spoke softly. Her attempt was unsuccessful, the younger girl continued to thrash; her head shaking and arms flailing wildly.  
"Ruby! Wake up! It's just a dream, wake up!" Weiss raised her voice, shaking Ruby more violently then before. She still did not stir.

"Ruby! Fuck!" The Heiress yelled, her voice resounding off the walls of the cave. "What am I supposed to do!?"

In desperation, she lifted her arm in an attempt to slap the young Reaper into consciousness, but the attempt was futile as she couldn't get close enough to follow through.

In a last ditch effort, Weiss promptly mounted the younger girl, sitting on her stomach. She grabbed Ruby's flailing limbs with one hand and using the other, she struck the young faunus across the face. A sharp 'SLAP' echoed throughout the cave and Ruby immediately shot up.

Before Weiss could even attempt to climb off, a fist was already hurtling towards her pale face and the Heiress was suddenly sent sprawling across the hard ground.

Ruby soon came to her senses as Weiss sat up, holding her nose.  
"Weiss...? What happened?" The young faunus asked tentatively, confusion painted on her expression.

"N-nothing, I'm fine," Weiss' reply was blunt. Blood slipped through the fingers covering her nose, it trickled down her arm and into the sleeve of her dress: the sensation was rather unpleasant.

In the near darkness, she barely noticed Ruby raising a speculative eyebrow. The younger girl's faunus DNA allowed her to see almost perfectly in the gloom. Her enhanced features were one of the only good things to come out of the cruel experimentation.

"It's obviously nothing," Ruby scoffed, "you're sat there with a bloody nose."

Weiss blanched, "Ugh! You punched me after I woke you up from a nightmare!" she exclaimed, glaring at the young faunus.

"Oh," Ruby replied meekly, "Erm... Sorry?"

"It- it's fine, you didn't know it was me. What was your dream about anyway?" the Heiress asked.

"Nothing you need to concern yourself with." The young Reaper's tone dropped and her demeanor darkened as she turned away, closed off.

"Oh, come on! I at least deserve to know after you punched me!" Weiss protested.

Ruby waved her arms in exasperation, her coicce raised, "Ugh, fine! It's a dream I've been having for about a year and a half. It's exactly the same each time. It's why I don't sleep much as well as having Grimm energy in me." she explained, grabbing the dust torch and turning it on.

"So, what happens?" Weiss moved closer to Ruby now that she could see her clearly in the light.

The young faunus sighed, "It starts with me just standing in darkness, alone. There's nothing around me. Then it all changes, the black just kind of fades out and it looks like I'm standing in a massive Grimm Lair or something. There's like, these pools of gooey black stuff everywhere and Grimm are climbing out of them." Ruby paused and glanced at the snowy-haired girl, fidgeting with unease.

Weiss leaned in with rapt anticipation, "What happens next?"

"Then it changes again, but to a different part of the Lair. There's this woman. Her hair is white, like yours, but less...pretty." Ruby mumbles the last part under her breath.

Weiss looks at her quizzically but nods for Ruby to continue when she glances up again.

"A-anyway, her skin is deathly pale. She has her back to me but when she turns around, I get a look of her eyes..." The young faunus trails off absentmindedly and shudders as she recalls the dream.

"... What did they look like?" Weiss questioned, raising her eyes row at Ruby's behaviour.

"It was like looking at a Grimm: blood red eyes and black sclera. It was like I was stuck, staring into a red and black hole and I can't move. I can't escape the look in her eyes. Then I'm just suddenly plunged into darkness again." Ruby explained, letting out the breath she didn't know she was holding.

The older girl looked at her sympathetically. "I must admit, it doesn't sound like a particularly pleasant dream."

"There's...more to it," the young Reaper states, her whole body tenses up.  
She sees Weiss' expectant look and huffs before continuing. "The dream changes again, to where I'm fighting the woman. She's incredibly strong and she easily overpowering me. I don't know how, but she knocks me down and suddenly there are these weird, spindly Grimm arms protruding from the ground; they wrap themselves around me. I'm completely restrained. The creepy bitch kneels down next to me and grabs my face and forces me to look at her." The young Reaper shuffles in her place, her breathing starting to quicken.

"Her... Her eyes are staring into my own, the blood lust and darkness is overwhelming. There's nothing else there, just deep pools of blood amongst a soulless sea of never ending blackness. She reaches up towards my right eye with her clawed fingers. Her nails are extremely sharp, she rests them over the socket. And then, she begins to press harder; digging her nails into my eye."

The young Reaper brought her arms up to cradle her head, the memories of her dream all consuming.

" Wh...what happens next?" Weiss asked, hesitantly. Not sure if she wanted to listen to the rest.

"The woman's nails pierce my skin and I'm screaming so loudly but I can still hear her chuckling. I can feel her nails digging further and further into my eye socket. I'm writhing in terror and agony. The pain is unbearable and I can't do anything. My arms are stuck by my sides and no matter how hard I try, I can't get free!" She raised her voice, tears threatened to spill from her silver-red eyes.

Weiss didn't know if she should try to comfort the distraught girl. She chose to stay where she sat and continue to listen.

"I can feel my eye starting to come loose from the socket. Blood's pouring down my face from where she's digging in and pulling. The smell of my blood permeates the air and the pain is getting beyond excruciating." Ruby paused to take a shaky breath.

This time, Weiss places a hand on the younger girl's shaking shoulder. She didn't know what else to do. Ruby didn't seem to register the contact.

"There's a nauseating pop and a snap as the bitch finally rips my eye out, detaching it from the cord that's supposed to hold it in place. At this point, I'm ready to black out, the pain is unimaginable; it blooms around my now empty socket. It was like being back at that horrific lab but worse."

The frightened faunus began to rock back and forth, trying to find comfort in the movement. Her right hand hovers over her right eye, expecting it to not be there. Her grip on her hair with her left hand tightens as she replays the dream in her head.

"Half of my sight is gone, plunged into darkness and all I can see is those horrible sharp claws closing in on my left eye, ready to rip that one out too. Then you woke me up. I couldn't tell distinguish what was real and what wasnt; that's why I lashed out." Ruby finished her explanation and glanced up at her companion.

She could tell her face was pale, she could tell her lip trembled. There were unshed tears in her silver-red eyes but she stubbornly kept them back behind her eyelids.

Weiss stared in shock, her hand still resting in the younger girl's shoulder. She squeezed it ever so slightly in a comforting gesture; still unsure of what to do in a situation like this.

After a few moments of stunned silence, Weiss finally broke it. "Well that would explain the thrashing about. You also growled in your sleep." The Heiress kept her voice low and soft to try and comfort the young faunus.  
Ruby took a deep shuddering breath and replied, "I growled when the woman knelt down."

Her eyes roamed Weiss' face, her gaze landing on the hand still covering the bloody nose. The bleeding had subsided but it looked a mess.  
The young Reaper reached out, "Come here," she beckoned the older girl to move closer.

Weiss hesitated, but complied nonetheless and soon her hand was being removed from her nose.

Ruby examined the bloody area before placing her index finger and thumb on either side of Weiss' off-centre nose. Her fingers gently brushed against the smooth skin, causing an involuntary shudder from the Schnee.

Suddenly, the black and red-haired faunus snapped Weiss' nose to the right, letting out a sharp 'CRACK'. Ruby's hand was promptly shoved away.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing!?" Weiss yelled in anger, gritting her teeth at the new sudden, pulsing pain.

"Your nose was broken, so I fixed it," Ruby replied, smiling and quite pleased with herself.

The white-haired girl blanched indignantly, a hand coming up to cup her nose again. "You could have warned me, you know!" she yelled again, glaring at the younger girl in front of her.

"Sorry! I was just trying to help!" the young faunus raised her voice defensively and pouted. Her ears lowering slightly.

"I could have done it myself." Weiss replied coldly, looking away from the pouting girl.

"Yeah, I doubt it," Ruby muttered under her breath, looking away from the Heiress. 

After a moment, she looked back to Weiss without a trace of anger on her face and tilted her head curiously. "Anyway, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" 

The blue-eyed girl huffed, but her expression softened when she looked back to the young faunus. The way Ruby tilted her head like a puppy made the older girl's anger melt away.

"I would like to explain the racist comment I made, among other things on why I tend to act the way I do." she began, speaking with a certain sadness in her voice. "If you'll allow it." she looked down and gracefully placed her hands in her lap.

Ruby considered her words for a moment, studying the older girl's face. She genuinely appeared ashamed of herself, it would only be fair to allow the Schnee to explain herself.

"Sure, why not? I mean, everyome has reasons for their behaviour, even I do. So, shoot." the young faunus permitted.

Weiss looked back up, her eyes roamed Ruby's face for a moment; her big silver-red eyes sparkled, reflecting the bright white light of the dust torch she held. Her thin lips tilted up in an innocent smile. It was an expression the younger girl seldom made, but one that suited her well. It was surprisingly...cute.  
Weiss shook her head to rid herself of the intrusive thoughts.

She began to explain after composing herself. "Well, you might believe I've had a very decent upbringing, with my being the Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company and whatnot; I got everything I asked for. I had servants at my beck and call," she grimaced just thinking about it but continued anyway, "But that's just it! That's all the company I had: servants."

She spread her fingers over her knee and examined her well kept nails absentmindedly.

"What do you mean?" Ruby's voiced pierced through the unwelcome silence.

Weiss looked up in time to see the young faunus tilt her head the other way, fluffy ear twitching at the movement. The sight made the older girl's ice cold heart melt, she coughed to relieve the odd sensation and continued on with her explanation.

"Well, my mother wasn't the best person to initiate a conversation with in the first place but after my tenth birthday she became a lot harder to speak to. She began to drink heavily and distanced herself from the family. My father became cold and uncaring, more so than before. All he ever wanted was perfection in everything," Weiss sneered, "He didn't want it just for the company either. He expected my older sister and I to be perfect. My sister left as soon as she had the chance to. After that, my father made life harder for me. I was expected to pick up where Winter left off. I was expected to do more than what Winter did when she was the heiress. Nothing but perfection was expected from me." Weiss paused again, determined not to let the flowing memories bring her to tears.

"So what did he do to make sure you were 'perfect'?" Ruby questioned, using air quotes.

Weiss took a deep breath and steeled herself, "My father made sure I was distracted at all times so I wouldn't try to follow Winter's example. If I wasn't studying or training then I was either at the SDC or singing at his parties and charity events. Everything had to be perfect and he definitely did not want me to become a huntress. He wanted me to be his puppet that never questioned him. He wanted everything done his way or... " the Heiress trailed off recalling how her father pitted her against an Armor Gigas Grimm. It was the first and last time she spoke out against him.

Ruby's ears flicked back as she frowned at the distracted girl. "Or what?"

Steeling herself, Weiss continued, her expression stony as she stared at the cave wall just past Ruby's head. "Or suffer the consequences."  
As she said that sentence, her hand moved up to her left eye, where a jagged scar ran down it. The look the young faunus gave her made her stop in her tracks and lower her arm.

She brought her attention back to the Young Reaper. "The first time I rebelled and questioned my father it was because I wanted to attend here and become a huntress. He wouldnt have it and forced me to fight an Armor Gigas Grimm in the form of a giant Knight." The older girl paused again, examining Ruby's face. The young faunus looked to be angry.

"Is that how you got that scar?" Ruby bluntly questioned, gesturing to the jagged line.

Weiss sighed deeply and continued, "Yes. I won the fight and that gave me leverage to attend here. I wouldn't take no as an answer so he eventually gave in. But at a price. He forced me to oversee the dust mines. They were filthy and smelt horrible. He never gave the faunus workers anything decent like a shower. He would always complain about how disgusting and barbaric faunus are, even when I was a child. I eventually began to take on his views but I tried so hard not to. So hard not to stoop to his level and so hard not to think faunus as anything less than humans." A frown weened its way onto her face, her aquamarine eyes scrunching up slightly. "But it all changed when the White Fang attacked."(A/N: Whoever gets the reference is a legend :D)  
She sighed again and closed her eyes, the memories of that day burning deep in her mind, swirling around like a violent hurricane.

"They infiltrated one of the SDC research facilities, their fangs bared and weapons drawn, they were ruthless. I was there when their bullets tore through the employees and their claws and blades sunk deep into people's defenseless bodies. Those that tried to run were mercilessly hunted down by the faster and winged faunus and the few that bravely stood against them had no chance of survival. I managed to escape by the skin of my teeth but countless others didn't. Later, it was discovered that many more SDC facilities had been attacked. Their main goal was to steal a new experimental dust. They succeeded and took most of it. Hundreds of people were murdered by faunus that day so you have to understand the way I view a lot of faunus. I hope you can forgive my incompetence as I of all people know you didn't have a choice at being a faunus."

The white-haired girl finally finished her explanation and hoped she could be forgiven. Taking a deep breath and holding it for a few seconds, she opened her eyes and slowly breathed out. She felt a lot calmer and looked up to Ruby.

The young faunus' expression was indecipherable, but Weiss was certain it wasn't anything good.

"What is it?" she asked, earning no response from the young Reaper.

A few moments of silence passed and Weiss began to worry. "Ruby?"

The girl in question looked to Weiss, clearly coming out of her thoughts. Another moment passed when Ruby finally spoke. "I forgive you but did you say...experimental dust?"

"Erm...yes. Why?" Weiss replied, looking puzzled and feeling very concerned.

Ruby ignored the question and asked her own instead, "What colour was it?" Her voice darkened slightly, a much more serious tone than before.

"I don't know, I think it was like a dark blue until it was dissolved in a liquid solution. Don't ask me what it was for though, I haven't a clue: even I wasn't allowed to know." Weiss looked up as Ruby stood and began to pace the length of the cave. "What's with all these weird questions?" Weiss inquired but was yet again ignored. 

"Was anything else stolen?" the young Reaper inquired, still pacing the cave. 

"The reports my father received did say something else had been stolen." Weiss answered honestly, watching the young faunus pace back and forth. 

"What was stolen?" Ruby questioned again.

"It was another liquified dust. I think the reports said it was some sort of amber colour." the white-haired girl replied, the worry in the back of her mind getting worse every second that passed. 

At that, Ruby stopped pacing and stared at the cave wall. After a silent couple of seconds, she strolled over to the sleeping bags and hurriedly began to pack them away. 

"What's wrong?" the older girl asked, her worrying amplifying ten fold. 

Ruby ignored the alabaster girl for the umpteenth time and carried on packing. 

As soon as she'd finished packing, she swung the bag up over her shoulder and began making her way towards the entrance of the cave and out into forest. 

Weiss was already on her feet, following her. "Ruby, wait up! What's going on?" she called after the younger girl. 

Catching up to the young faunus she asked again, "What's going on? What's the matter?"

The young Reaper sent a scowl over her shoulder- a silent threat to back off. Weiss stopped and took a step back. The older girl sighed and shook her head, a determined look on her face. 

"For fuck sake." she muttered to herself before activating a speed glyph to get ahead of the stubborn faunus. She landed in front of Ruby with her arms crossed and a determined yet concerned look on her face. 

"Ruby, tell me what's wrong." she said, eyeing the young faunus. 

Ruby stopped and frowned, not wanting to look Weiss in the eye. "Nothings wrong. We just need to get back." she lied. 

"Well that's clearly a lie, just tell me what's wrong." Weiss demanded and stood her groun. 

"Ugh, fine!" the young faunus growled in frustration, her ears pinned back against her head, "I need to see Ozpin about what we discussed. It's important." she looked away, an angry pout pulling at her features. 

Weiss' eyebrow joined the other above the line of her fringe and waited for Ruby to elaborate. She didn't need to as realisation dawned on her. "Does it have something to do with the experimental dust I mentioned?" Weiss remained still as silence passed between them. 

Ruby didn't want to talk about this with the other girl. It was personal and none of her business, what right does she have to pry into her-

Ruby made the mistake of looking into Weiss' icy blue pools. She saw pure determination along with concern in them. There was no way the white-haired girl was going to let this go. They both wanted answers...maybe, they could help each other out. 

The young faunus sighed deeply, finally giving in. "Yeah, it's related to the dust. I'll tell you on the way back." she replied, walking past the Heiress at a brisk pace. Weiss turned and jogged to catch up. 

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Weiss piped up, asking: "Why is it important?"

Ruby continued to stare ahead as she replied, "Do you remember before Initiation, in the infirmary?"

"Yes, what about it?" Weiss replied with her own question. 

"Do you remember me saying I was experimented on?" Ruby questioned once more. 

Weiss raised her eyebrow as she replied, "Well, yes I do, but what does this hae to do wit the experimental dust?"

"During the experiments, they injected me with a blue liquid, like the one you described. Then they'd inject me with an amber liquid and I'd pass out. Most of it is a haze. Like somethings still blocking me from remembering what happened. I could be wrong but they both looked like diluted dust crystals. they burned like a bitch too." Ruby explained, thinking back to a few vague and hazy memories of the lab. 

Weiss stopped in her tracks. The puzzle pieces fitting together, it all made sense now. Well almost. 

As a child she often stood by her father's side, watching as a blue liquid was injected into people. Humans. Weiss recalled their screams of agony. the screams and shouts that it burned but that was all. That's all she could remember. Nothing but fuzziness was in the memories place. She tried to remember but was met with nothing. It was as though something was blocking her memories. Blocking her from remembering something important. 

It was like a padlocked gate; the memories were there but they were vague and fuzzy and not focusing like a camera lense. All she needed was the key to unlock the padlock and the momeories would flow free but try as she might, she couldn't get passed the blockage. 

If only she could access these memories! She knew there was apart of the puzzle missing, something she should know and be able to recall. Se had a feeling these blocked memories could help Ruby immensely. She just needed to figure out how to access them. 

Ruby conned on, only to notice the lack of another pair of footsteps. She looked back to see the white-haired girl stuck in deep thought. 

She sighed ad approached Weiss, stabding in front of her. "Weiss? Something wrong?" she asked, looking concerned. 

caught unaware, the Heiress jolted back to reality and snapped out of her thoughts. "Huh?" she blurted, confusion laced in her voice. 

"I asked if somethings wrong," Ruby replied, rolling her eyes. 

"Nothing in particular, I just think we both need to see Ozpin." Weiss explained and continued walking. She tugged Ruby's arm on the way past, encouraging her along. 

"Um, Why? is it important?" the young Reaper inquired, she turned and fell into step with the older girl. 

"Yes, very." Weiss stated bluntly. She didn't bother elaborating- she just picked up her pace. 

With that, Ruby promptly place one hand on Weiss' back and the other under her knees, swinging her swuftly into her arms and carrying her bridal style. 

Red blossomed across Weiss' pale face as she struggled in Ruby's arms. "Ruby, what do you think you are doing!? Put me down this instaaAAAAH!"  
The older girl's words anded in a shrill scream as the younger one activated her semblance. At full speed, their respective colours intertwined, turning Ruby's rose petals a light pink. 

They quickly arrived at the edge of the Emerald Forest, clearing the last line of trees and continuing on. The young Reaper activated her semblance once more and infused some of the remaining Grimm energy she had into her aura to go travel at an even greater speed. 

When they stopped they were outside the main building of Beacon. Ruby looked down at Weiss to see she had her face buried in the younger girl's shoulder and her eyes tightly squeezed shut. 

The younger faunus chuckled at the sight. "Weiss, we're back at Beacon." Ruby announced. 

The frazzled girl instantly shot out of Ruby's arms, stumbling in the process. She whirled around, pointing an acusing finger at the younger girl. "Don't you ever do that again Ruby Rose!" she threatened. 

Ruby took a step back and held her arms up defensively, "Erm, sorry. I was just trying to get us here quicker." she looked around at their surroundings. "Which I did." she smirked, earning another glare from Weiss. 

Weiss sighed heavily and recomposed herself as much as she could in her flustered state and replied more calmly. "I suppose you're right, just next time...warn me beforehand."

Giggling ever so slightly, Ruby headed towards the main doors. She stopped to look back over her shoulder at Weiss. "You coming or what Princess?" Ruby giggled again at the nickname she had just given to the older girl. 

"Dolt!" the newly nicknamed girl huffed and walked forwards, a soft smile gracing her features. 

With that, the red and white duo entered the building, making their way towards Ozpin's office once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed. This is all I’ll be republishing today. So chapters 10, 11 and 12 are now up again. I’ll upload another two chapters tomorrow.  
> See you later guys and happy reading! :)


	13. Explanation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss and Ruby go to Ozpins office and explain everything about what they may have discovered. With no evidence, will the red and white duo lose hope? Or will they find their resolve to put a plan into action to get the evidence they need to finally take revenge?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so someone asked me on a previous chapter how Ruby would’ve known how to use Crescent Rose. I don’t know what chapter they asked about it on but I’m going to clarify. 
> 
> Basically Ruby would’ve felt familiar with her weapon. Kinda like she remembers it from the torturous training she would’ve done within the laboratory. And then there’s muscle memory. Her body would remember what to do and how to fight. If I come up with a better explanation I’ll let you all know but that’s all I ever came up with.
> 
> But anyways, here’s chapter 13. It didn’t need editing one bit. So it’s just the same as before. Chapter 14 will follow shortly. After that I’m going to see if I can actually start figuring out what’s gonna happen in chapter 16 and then draft it up. But expect to wait quite a while for it. No promises it’s going to be on here for at least a few weeks maybe longer.
> 
> Anyways, Enjoy the chapter and happy reading :)

What do you wish to discuss girls?" Professor Ozpin asked, taking a sip from his Beacon mug as Weiss and Ruby stood before his large oaken desk.

"We may have discovered something concerning Ruby's kidnapping, the identity of the culprits and the items used to turn her into a faunus," the Heiress explained.

Ozpin raised an inquisitive eyebrow and asked, "Who do you believe is or rather was responsible?"

The red and white pair looked to each other, an unspoken question raised between the two. Both gave a slight nod of confirmation to explain. Ruby continued from where Weiss left off.

"We believe it could have been the White Fang."

Ozpin's lowered brow joined the other in quiet surprise; his expression thoughtful. For once, the two seemed to agree on something.

Both waited patiently for the Professor's response. Determination shining in both girls' eyes.

" What makes you believe the White Fang are responsible? Do you have evidence? Or is this just a theory?" Ozpin fired off questions. The determined looks in the two girls' eyes didn't falter.

Weiss went on to explain everything before arriving at Beacon. About how the White Fang viciously attacked several SDC research facilities and stole two experimental dusts. She also explained how she had 'helped' her father with the damage reports and loss of employees reports whilst her father dealt with the other paperwork on the missing dusts and various top secret documents. The white-haired girl then went onto explain how she had witnessed more than a few experiments on faunus and humans. How the dusts had been injected into their bloodstream one after the other. She then explained how she had never witnessed what the dusts did to the people in the metal chair. All she did know was the colour of the experimental dusts and what form they were in.

Finishing her explanation, Ozpin took a moment to think everything through. He had never heard of two new dusts and certainly not the type to be used on humans and faunus.

Eventually, he made up his mind on what to say. "Unfortunately, your explanation does not prove anything to do with what happened to Miss Rose. Although, it certainly is plausible.”

Ruby stepped toward the desk, her fists clenched and her wolf ears flattened forwards in anger. "When I was being experimented on, I remember there being more faunus compared to humans. I remember some of the faunus that I saw every single day as they put that crap into me!" her voice had risen to a shout without her realising.

The Professor merely looked her in the eye, not in the least intimidated by the young Reaper.

"As I said, do you have the evidence?" he repeated as calm as ever. Although, he wasn't actually calm on the inside.

It seemed as though Weiss could sense this and proceeded to place her hand on her partners shoulder. One to calm her down and two, to make her back off. Gladly, the younger girl did.

Her expression had become less determined and more like a kicked puppy. She knew they had not an ounce of evidence. They were basically fucked if they were to go head to head with whoever did this to her. They had barely any information on the White Fang. And what if they were wrong? What if it was someone else. Maybe it was the government of one of the other kingdoms? Or it could be someone much worse than any kingdom and the White Fang.

These thoughts ran rampant through the young Reaper's mind, plaguing her with unnecessary feelings of worthlessness and anxiety. Thankfully, it didn't last long as an obvious idea came to her from the depths of her broken mind.

What if they gathered the evidence?

"We could gather evidence from both my end and Weiss' end since she's the Heiress of the SDC and whatnot. I could gather intel on my 'employers' and try to sneak in whilst acting as I used to do when I actually worked for them." Ruby suggested after making up her mind about it not being a stupid, pointless idea.

"You're right. We could. Wouldn't that help with our case Professor?" the white-haired girl inquired before Ruby or Ozpin could say anything else.

The young faunus no longer looked like a kicked puppy, instead she had stronger determination than she ever had before. Her resolve no longer weak and fragile.

"You could, yes. But are you able to explain the correlation between the stolen dusts and Miss Rose’s experimentation?" the Headmaster inquired.

The two girls stood silently; thinking of how to explain. Before Weiss could respond, Ruby spoke instead.

"Yeah, we can explain it. Well, I can anyway. We have no proof but we could attain said proof but I'm guessing we'd need your permission to do anything of the sort."

"You are correct Miss Rose. So, please explain to me the correlation between the two." Ozpin replied curiously.

"Well, to start, Weiss explained the two stolen dusts to both of us. They were, as she put it, amber and a blue colour and they were in a liquid form." Ruby began to explain.

"I have neve heard of liquid dust before. Please continue," Ozpin interjected, leaning forwards on his desk in interest.

"Well, they were in liquid form so they could be used intravenously." Ruby continued as though Ozpin hadn't interrupted her.

"What's the correlation?" the headmaster asked rather impatiently.

"I remember from the experiments, one blue and one amber liquid in tubes with a needle on the end of each one. Weiss witnessed humans and faunus being injected with amber and blue liquid dusts. There's the correlation." the young faunus finished her explanation, a smug smile on her face as she saw Ozpin's calm expression turn to complete disbelief. Or was it something else?

The large room became silent, the Heiress and the faunus waiting in anticipation for the Headmaster's opinion.

Finally, Ozpin broke the rather tense silence, "If you can find the evidence to prove the correlation between the stolen dusts and Miss Rose's experiments and everything else you have explained, I will gather two teams of Huntmans to do the rest. If you can come up with a plausible plan, I will also allow your team to head any other plans with the Huntsmen to search and capture or kill the culprits. Understood?" he explained.

The girls let out the breath they didn't know they were holding and said in unison "Yes, Sir."

Before exiting the large office the young faunus stepped forwards again and said, "I'm gonna need my scythe and my scroll. I have a plan."

"Of course, he simply replied and proceeded to stand and walk around his desk towards a painting on one of the walls.

The painting was of a young Huntsmen with a cane much like the Professor's. The painted Huntsmen had dark brown hair, a green shirt and a green bandana around his right bicep. He also wore dark brown trousers and light brown leather combat boots.

You couldn't see his face as it was facing the towards a large pack of Beowolves. His cane raised above his head as though he were to strike the one in front of him. But he never would as he was frozen. A painting.

The scenery was that of red trees with large trunks. Red leaves littered the ground beneath the Huntsman's boots; the sky above his head was dark and cloudy as though it would rain a never ending flow of water.

It was in the Forever Fall Forest. It was beautiful all seasons of the year. It was literally forever fall. The sap from the trees was delicious but too much would give you a stomach ache that lasted a week. The other problem was, was the fact the forest is invested with Grimm just like the painting depicts. The Grimm love the sap just as much as the young faunus does.

Professor Ozpin took a final step towards the painting, reaching out to it but not touching it. He let his aura flow from his outstretched hand and into the painting. There were clunks and clicks as though cogs were turning to open the secret door. Another quieter click, the painting began to slowly open; revealing a safe hidden within the wall.

It had a dial on it which Ozpin began to turn clockwise, anti-clockwise, clockwise again and then anti-clockwise. There was another but much quieter clunk, that only Ruby heard as it unlocked and swung open.

The headmaster reached inside and pulled out two items; a scroll and a folded sniper-scythe.

While the Professor was doing this, the red and white duo watched in curiosity. They didn't speak or make a single sound. Just watching and waiting.

At last, Ozpin closed the safe door and returned the painting to the wall, sealing it again with his aura before stepping back over to his desk. He placed the scroll and weapon on his desk as he sat down and eyed the young faunus.

"I trust you are not going to attack any other students again?" he asked, although it wasn't a question. It was more of a warning. A very subtle warning.

"No, I won't. You have my word." The young Reaper replied instantly, keeping eye contact with the seasoned Huntsman.

"Good." he simply replied, still keeping his eyes on the young girl.

After retrieving her weapon and scroll, she stepped back and began a staring contest with the Beacon Headmaster. The air became tense within seconds.

Ozpin decided to push it further and pulsed a small amount of aura into the atmosphere. Ruby didn't flinch and did the same, albeit pulsing more of her aura out than the professor.

So, the ageing headmaster upped his aura and pulsed it again. Weiss flinched and looked away. The youg faunus still didn't move or look away.

It was a contest to see who would back down first. It was also a way wolf faunus displayed their dominance when with other wolf faunus or with other types of faunus.

Ruby pulsed hers out again, stronger than last. Still, Ozpin didn't back down. Weiss flinched again.

She had no idea what the two were doing. 'Maybe I'll research this later on.' she thought as Ozpin pulsed his aura again, much stronger than Ruby's.

This time, Ruby stepped back and looked away having lost the contest for dominance. She turned on her heel and softly grabbed the Heiress' hand, encouraging her to follow.

The girls quietly walked out of the office and down the hall towards their dorm room.

Meanwhile, the former Huntsman watched them go, a small smile playing at his lips.

'Miss Rose is certainly something. All the more reason to keep an eye on her.' he thought as he lifted his mug to his lips. Disappointment flashed across his face as he found it empty.

Sighing, he stood from his desk again and started his small journey to the staff room.

' Hopefully, I can find that strawberry syrup again. I hope Oobleck has not taken it again.' the Professor thought absentlymindedly.

As he neared the door, he looked back towards the painting of the young Huntsman. He could remember that battle like it was yesterday. The amount of Grimm that surrounded him. From Beowolves to Deathstalkers to Creeps to something even now he couldn't think of a name for.

It was a new Grimm but it was nothing like anyone had seen before. It was humanoid but devoid of any kind of soul. Just darkness and chaos roiling within its armoured being. Hate for the human and faunus races.

He'd only just won that battle against the humanoid Grimm. He'd ended up losing one of his legs. Stab wounds and scratches all over his body. Bruises ready to show themselves on his skin. But that was many, many years ago. Ozpin wasn't a normal human being. He wasn't a Reaper but he was still cursed to live, die and then live again.

He would never tell anyone of his secret. Seven people knew of this secret. One of which was the reason behind the curse. One of which could be responsible for Ruby's suffering. Unfortunately, he couldn't tell anyone of this one person. It would incite chaos and destruction.

Finally satisfied with his dark thoughts, he turned on his heel, closed the door, locked it and slowly made his way to the staff room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that’s chapter 13. Number 14 will soon follow and then maybe chapter 15. Depends how much editing 14 needs doing on it. That’s also if it needs editing. 
> 
> Anyways, see you guys next chapter. Which is pretty soon. Happy reading!


	14. Plan and Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss and Ruby go over a few things in their plans to investigate Ruby's faunus turning and the stolen dusts.
> 
> Yang demands to know what a Reaper is after weeks of being cut off from an explanation. Blake and Weiss are also present. Aaaand Ruby refuses to call Qrow her dad as she is in denial.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I thought, the chapter didn’t need to be edited. So here you go.
> 
> Enjoy the chapter :)

It had been a few days since the two girls had spoken to the Professor. In that time Weiss had attempted to concoct a plan. Unusually, her attempts had proven fruitless; no matter how hard she thought, nothing seemed elaborate enough to pull off and most ideas just seemed farfetched.

Her pen tapped continuously upon the notebook she currently had open - the page remained blank, much like her thoughts.

Unbeknownst to the Schnee, however, her usually impulsive companion had been much more successful with her own ideas. Ruby's plan was scrawled on numerous pieces of loose paper strewn across the dorm floor, and hastily typed in her scroll.

The young faunus was just about finishing up when-

'Tap, tap, tap, tap-'

"AUGH!" Ruby flung her arms up in annoyance, her red gel pen flying out of her grasp and landing on the other side of the room.

Her white-haired companion startled and turned swiftly on the single desk chair, looking over her shoulder at the younger girl. The incessant tapping stopped completely, Weiss' engraved fountain pen all but forgotten.  
"What is it?!"

"You! You tapping that stupid fancy pen non-stop!" Ruby's voice raising in agitation, her lips jutting out in a pout as she sent an accusatory glare the other girl's way.

Weiss turned fully at that, she spun in the chair to face the Reaper, arms crossed and one leg folded over the other.  
"Oh, I'm so sorry my productive use of time is distracting you from your precious..." She pauses, glancing around the room with a look of bewilderment at the sheer amount of paper on the floor. She purses her lips before continuing, "Whatever you're doing. Ugh, I can't think straight."

"Maybe you aren't straight then" The faunus mumbled under breath, snickering, her ears twitched in amusement.

Weiss narrowed her eyes at the reaction, her mind whirring in an attempt to figure out what was said.  
"Pardon?"

"What?" Ruby's replied with an innocent smile, but her silver eyes shone with mischief.

There was a moment of silence in which the two girls stared at each other. One gaze confused, the other amused.

"...Anyway," Weiss brushed the odd moment off, "What have you been doing?" She raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow and gestured to the mess littering the floor.

"C'mere and I'll show you" Ruby beckoned the older girl over.

The Schnee huffed in disbelief, "You expect me to sit on the floor?"

"Well, yeah, how else am I gonna properly explain it?"

The white-haired girl hummed in fake thought, "Hmm....no. Not happening." She replied, crossing her arms and looking away in condemnation.

"Well, why not just sit on my lap?" Ruby fired back.  
Weiss whipped around to stare at the red-head, a look of shock painted her delicate features.  
There was another beat of silence before Ruby's eyes widened and her face erupted in flames. Her lupine ears flattened against her head as she scrambled to take her words back, arms flailing wildly in embarrassment.  
"Wait! I-I didn't mean that!" She sputtered. Refusing to look at the other girl, the faunus quickly put her head in her hands and whined, incomprehensible noises spewed out of her mouth and her deaf human ears grew redder than thought possible.

Weiss looked away again, her face just as hot. She cleared her throat before replying, "I-it's fine. I'll sit on the floor." And awkwardly stood up to sit next to Ruby.

Heat emanated off the poor girl, her head still buried in her hands. She took a deep breath, attempting to compose herself and slowly raised her head. Still avoiding eye contact Ruby started to explain her plan.

"So, um...I've been in contact with my employers; I've set up a meeting in the Emerald Forest for a week from today. It'll be at 2:30pm. They'll be able to track my location through my scroll - which they're probably doing now. They shouldn't try to attack between now and next week, hopefully.  
The meeting will be with a superior I've never met before, the only thing I know about him is his codename: Minotaur."

Weiss listened intently and nodded along as Ruby spoke, their previous embarrassment soon forgotten in favour of discussing their upcoming plans.

"There is one problem though..." Ruby hesitantly glanced up at the heiress. Weiss nodded in confirmation and gestured for the younger to continue. "Well, since I don't know who Minotaur is, I also don't know his fighting style, semblance or even what he looks like. So..." She trailed off, pouting alightly before continuing, "We might have to get Blake and Yang involved."

Weiss hummed in thought. It was a pain to get more people involved, especially people they cared about. Although, it would fulfill their promise to Ozpin - they would have a team of four for the investigation, just as he requested. "You're right. You also still need to tell them what a Reaper is. Have you thought of something they can do?"

Ruby looked around for a moment, spotting what she was seeking she reached out to grab one of the papers, holding it up and pointing to what was written.  
"Yeah, I'll need them to plant cameras and audio devices around Emerald Forest. They'll mostly be doing reconnaissance, but we might need their help capturing whoever Mintotaur is if things go wrong." the young faunus ignored Weiss' last question, wanting to avoid the subject as much as she could.

The older girl looked contemplative, her sapphire eyes flickering in thought. She seemed to come to a conclusion when she looked down at Ruby and made eye contact, her intelligent gaze awe-inspiring to look at. "It sounds like another faunus." She resolved, gesturing to Ruby's fluffy wolf ears which twitched at the attention.

"Yeah, I think so too. But I still can't make the connection." the younger girl said, going into deep thought.

"Well, during the Faunus Rights Revolution, one of the most powerful and influential faunus to fight was Minos Crete, a bull faunus. He lead the successful attack against the Battle of Fort Castle and that win was perhaps the turning point of the war in favour of the faunus. As a result of this, he became a well-known figure head for faunus rights. If this "Minotaur" happens to be a bull faunus..." She frowned "Then he certainly would seem to be an arrogant individual."

Ruby thought for a few moments, letting the new information sink in. She does vaguely recall learning something about the Faunus War in one of her classes. "Yeah, you're right." She simply said, picking up the closest gel pen - coloured blue. She pulled a piece of paper closer, titled 'Minotaur' and proceeded to scrawl the words: 'Bull faunus?' She hastily encircled the words in glittery ink.  
When finished, Ruby grapped another loose sheet from the floor and skimmed through it. Content with what she read, she nodded at herself and handed the paper over to Weiss.

The older girl stared at it, puzzled. "What is this?" She looked back to the other girl, awaiting an answer.

"This is your plan." She paused, looking away and scratching the back of her neck, unsure. "It's just, you seemed to be struggling to come up with something so...I did it for you." Ruby appeared unusually bashful as she looked back at Weiss, peering up at the older girl from under her eyelashes and grinning nervously.

"Oh, well...thank you" Weiss' cheeks were a pretty pink when she replied, subtle, but there nonetheless.  
A simple "You're welcome" was all that was heard in reply as Ruby stood and began collecting the scattered papers.  
If the heiress noticed the flush of red running up the back of the Reaper's neck as she bent to pick her notes up, she didn't say anything.  
Instead, she sat in the pleasant silence that was left and thoroughly perused the plan given to her.

So when are we heading to the CCT?"

"Tomorrow if we can, the day after if not" Ruby explained.

Weiss stood up, taking the paper with her as she moved back over to the desk in the corner of the room. Finding her scroll there she promptly sat down and began typing up the plan, making additional notes every now and then for clarification.  
She was just finishing up when the door opened. Both girls looked around to see Blake and Yang entering, having just finished combat training.

"Hey girls." Yang greeted

Ruby looked away instantly, "Sooo, I've gotta go and do erm...something." She announced awkwardly and started towards the door.

"Oh no you don't." Before she could escape, a gloved hand shot out to stop her. Her gaze traveled down to the hand latched onto her upper arm and landed on the bumblebee yellow of Ember Celica.  
Movement in her periphery caught her eyes and she glanced up to catch her fellow faunus blocking the only exit, arms crossed over her chest.

Yang's hand clenched slightly on Ruby's arm and she dragged her younger cousin back into the room. "I want answers."

Weiss perked up from her desk at the opposite end of the room, "Answers? About what?" She piped up, half of her body twisted to watch the scene unfold.

The blond turned to her platinum haired teammate, "What exactly a Reaper is and how Ruby-" She glanced at her younger cousin, annoyance evident in the tone of her voice, "-did that thing in Initiation two months ago. I think we've waited long enough for an explanation."

Yang finally released her grip on Ruby's arm, allowing her to fall on Weiss' bed.

Blake moved away from the door, puzzled. She looked back and forth between the two, her feline ears twitching in confusion beneath the large black bow. "Reaper...?"

Ruby took a hurried look at the cat faunus and ultimately finding the dorm floor much more interesting to look at. "It's..." She mumbled in distress, "It isn't important. Look, I have something actually important I need to do so excuse me--" She made to get up but was pushed back down immediately.  
The young Reaper glowered menacingly at the blonde towering over her, ears pinned back against her head. If looks could kill Yang would certainly have been reduced to nothing more than a corpse. She was fortunate her sanguine silver eyes could do no harm to humans, Ruby thought distastefully.

Yang matched her ferocity with a glare any Schnee would be proud of. The tension in the room was thick.

The charged silence was almost too much to bear; Blake and Weiss looked at each other in concern before they each moved to diffuse the situation.  
Blake approached Yang from behind, silently placing a gentle hand on the brawler's shoulder; it took a few moments but her rigid posture slowly began to relax at the touch.  
Weiss spoke up firmly, "Ruby..."

Sighing in resignation, the black and red-haired girl relented. "Fine. What do you wanna know?"

Yang took a step back, a frown still on her face but the air around her now was much less hostile. "What's a Reaper?"

Ruby expected the question, of course. She had since the meeting with Ozpin when Yang was present. The meeting when she found out Tai wasn't her father. She couldn't believe it, so she denied it.

But it had occured to her, in this very moment, that she had never stopped to think about how she was actually going to answer the question. Maybe it was due to a stubborn hope that the subject would miraculously be avoided indefinitely, or just an unwillingness to think about anything pertaining to herself or her past.

Alas, avoiding it proved impossible, and Ruby was now stuck trying to figure out what a Reaper actually is - despite being one herself.

That much was never explained to her; after all, knowing who she was never really mattered as an assassin. Easier to mold defenceless children into mindless killing machines that way.

Ruby shook her head of the cynical thoughts, her three roomates stared at her expectantly with varying levels of patience.

The Reaper sighed and tried to explain what she knew:  
"All I know is that we're stronger, faster and harder to kill. Reaper's are rare, like, endangered rare. As far as I'm aware, me, Raven and Qrow are some of the only ones left..."

Yang frowned at the mention of Ruby's father, the fact that she still refused to call him 'Dad' bothered her more than she let on. No matter her feelings on the subject though, such things were better kept to herself, especially right now.  
The sunny-haired brawler zoned back into the conversation.

"...it's what you all-"

"Ah, Ruby?" Yang cut in, having realised she'd missed most of the explanation already. "Mind repeating what you said? I kind of, er, zoned out for a minute there."

The younger girl simply rolled her eyes in exasperation, unwilling to start another confrontation, and began to explain again.  
"Basically, I don't really know what a Reaper is. We have abilities that can kill Grimm, but not humans or faunus. And as far as I know, all Reapers have similar abilities - like absorbing a Grimm's 'life-force', or 'Grimm energy', as I call it. We can also let off an energy blast like you saw the Emerald Forest when I took down the Giant Nevermore." Ruby elaborated, "There are a few other ways I can kill Grimm or harm a person though. My abilities don't just stop at an energy blast. Advanced healing, telepathy to certain Grimm, energy pulsing to subdue people etcetera etcetera."

Blake spoke up from across the room, having been listening intently to the explanation. She shifted slightly, arms crossed and weight leant against the far wall after moving away when she was sure Yang wouldn't start another confrontation. "What about the red eyes?"

It was another question Ruby expected, and it was one she knew the answer too.  
"Think of it as a trait. Like how faunus inherit their trait from one or both parents." Her gaze met Blake's honey eyes and glanced absentmindedly at the large hair accessory covering her feline ears.

"I 'inherit' the eyes of a Grimm when I absorb it's energy. My abilities have a downside though..."

"Being?"

Ruby turned to her cousin, "To a certain degree I also end up taking their hateful and chaotic way of thinking, along with their destructive habits."

"Ah, so that would explain your bitchiness this whole time. Although I suppose it has gotten better." Despite Yang's harsh words, a hint of humour could be detected in her voice.

Blake spoke up once more, "What about right now? Your eyes are tinted red, have you been fighting Grimm lately?"

The room was silent as all four girls contemplated the last time Ruby fought a Grimm.  
"The last time was the Nevermore, right?" Weiss pondered aloud, breaking the silence.

"Yeah and that was, like, a month ago. I haven't hunted since then." Ruby frowned, "I don't know enough about Reapers to come up with an explanation; as far as I know, my eyes should have reverted back to their original colour."

It was then that a thought struck Yang: Ruby might not know much about her species, but there was one other person they could talk to about the subject. Her cousin wouldn't be happy about it though, that was certain.  
"I'm sure Uncle Qrow would know..."

Ruby's response was instantaneous and blunt, "No thanks."  
Her face fell into a neutral expression, but it was clear to her teammates how annoyed she was at the prospect of talking to her father.

Yang spoke up once more in an attempt to convince the Reaper, "Come on Ruby, he might know something. It makes sense to ask."

It did make sense, she couldn't argue with that, they needed answers and Qrow was the only one who could provide it to them. Ruby groaned in fustration, she desperately wanted to remain stubborn, to continue refusing -  
'I don't want to talk to him .'

Ozpin's words echoed in her head, 'There's a time an place for everything Ruby, but not now.'  
It's something he always says when faced with the young Reaper's reckless behaviour.

Her face twisted into a grimace as she reluctantly replied, "Fine. You call him, I'm not talking to him." The resentment in her voice didn't escape the others' notice.

Yang narrowed her eyes, staring the younger faunus down. "Why?" She rebuked.

"Just call him. Before I change my mind."

She gave Ruby an unimpressed look but remained silent and proceeded to look for Qrow's number in her scroll, dialling it soon after and putting it on speaker.

ring, ring.

Silence permeated the room as the four girls waited.

ring, ring.

Blake moved to stand next to Yang, peering at the scroll in her hands, ears twitching unnoticeably beneath the bow.

ring, ring.

The silence was getting awkward now. Weiss studied Ruby, watching as she tapped her foot impaiently, the scowl prevalent on her sharp features.

ring, ring

Ruby growled in indignation, "I knew he wouldn't--

The speaker crackled and a gravelly voice came through from the other side. "Hey, Firecracker. What's up?" It was Qrow.

Yang raised an eyebrow at her cousin, the action speaking volumes: 'I told you so.' she mouth then replied to her Uncle.  
"Hey Uncle Qrow, the team have a question and we think you'll probably have the answer."

"Okay. Shoot, kiddo."

"Ruby hasn't hunted Grimm for a while but her eyes still look red. We figured you're a Reaper too so...do you know why?"

Qrow grunted in response, "I don't think you'll wanna know the answer to that."

"Just tell us Qrow." The younger Reaper's tone was as cold as the Ice Queen's semblance. Yang glared at her disapprovingly.

If he was bothered at all by his daughter's refusal to call him Dad, he didn't show it. There was no indication of hurt in his voice when he spoke next.  
"Alright. It's most likely 'cause you've absorbed too many Grimm."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ruby replied, her curiosity piqued.

"Well, it's mostly likely' cause you've absorbed too many Grimm. You absorb too many in your life and our eyes turn red. It's also permanent."

She narrowed her eyes, suspicious. There was something he wasn't telling them.  
"Spill the beans, Qrow. I know that isn't all there is to it." She sneered.

"I..." Qrow sighed, stressed. He is too old for this. "Listen, kid. I really don't think this is something you're gonna wanna know--"

She leaned forward from her place on Weiss' bed as she spewed: "Just fucking tell me. I want to know." Her words becoming increasingly aggressive the more he avoided the subject.

"You wanna know." He stated rather than asked. "Fine, I'll tell you." He fumed, "The more Grimm you absorb the higher chance you have of becoming one of 'em. The more you take, the more you become a Grimm."

Ruby stumbled back in shock, red tinted eyes wide. It couldn't be that, anything but that. She had to make sure that wasn't what he was insinuating.  
"Wh-what do you mean?" She stuttered out.

"It means..." The greying Reaper sighed, his voice was softer now, more gentle. She was just a kid, she didn't deserve such a burden placed on her shoulders.  
"You have a high chance of becoming a Grimm. Just like Raven did." He spoke much quieter in the hopes that only his daughter would hear them.

"No...you're lying. It can't be true." She shook her head in disbelief, taking a step back.  
"You're lying! Just like you lied about being my father!" She spewed the last word like venom and stepped back once more in distress, but one foot got caught behind the other and she tumbled backwards.

"Ruby!" Yang reached out to catch her but was too slow.  
A dull thud sounded out as the younger girl's head smacked against her own rope suspended bed, knocking her out cold.

"Um, what was that?" the older Reaper inquired, a hint of concern in his tone.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure you're busy with other things that you need to get back to." the blonde brawler said, keeping her eye on Ruby.

"Yeah, suppose I do. Seeya firecracker." came the disappointed sounding reply.

"Seeya Uncle Qrow."  
Before she could hang up, the older Reaper spoke once more, "And Yang...look after her."

"Don't worry," she looked at Blake and Weiss with a pained smile, "We will."

With the call disconnected, Yang pocketed her scroll and moved to pick Ruby up from where she was sprawled on the floor, intending in carrying her over to her own bed.

"Don't bother Yang, just put her in my bed, it's easier." Weiss piped up, turning away from the blonde with a light blush on her cheeks.

Yang shrugged, proceeding to place Ruby gently onto the bottom bed in front of her.  
Turning around, she caught a glimpse of pink dusting the tips of the heiress' ears.  
She took a glance at Blake, giving her a knowing smirk. The ravenette simply rolled her eyes, but there was a small smile gracing her features as she moved over to her bed and plucked out her latest novel from underneath the pillow.

The room fell into a somewhat comfortable silence, the three conscious girls focusing in their own things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t really have much to say but I’m debating whether or not to publish chapter 15 today as well. Hmmmm decisions decisions xD
> 
> Anyways, happy reading and see you all next chapter


	15. Fluff and Stuff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss comforts a sulking/crying Ruby. Flustered faces and fluffiness and some laughter. (Hopefully).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I actually decided to publish this chapter at last. It’s what everyone has been waiting for so please enjoy and apologies for it being so short considering it took so long to publish. 
> 
> Anywho, please enjoy. Any errors or inconsistencies please let me know and I’ll correct them as soon as.

A couple of days had passed since the plan was established and Ruby spoke to her father.  
Ruby and Weiss had not yet visited the CTT as discussed; the young Reaper was still withdrawn, which was to be expected considering the conversation Qrow and her had - the information revealed certainly was worrisome. Not to mention the embarrassment Ruby surely felt at having unintentionally knocked herself out following said information.

As a result of this, the team's next course of action was left to the Schnee.  
Weiss decided it was about time to put  
one part of the plan into place.

It was up to Blake and Yang to set up the cameras and audio equipment that had been acquired - being a Schnee had it's benefits - in Emerald Forest in preparation for the meeting with 'Minotaur'.

After sending the black and yellow pair off, Weiss was left alone with a sulking faunus still inside the dorm room. She stood outside, considering what to say to the other girl. Coming up empty she sighed and opened the door.

"Ruby?" Weiss called out.

There was a moment of silence before a muffled: "What do you want?" was heard from the room, the reply was dull and monotonous.  
Ruby was indeed, sulking; laying on her bed in the fetal position with her red hood over her head and her fluffy black tail curled around her legs. She looked vulerable.

Weiss left the door ajar as she replied, in the hopes that Ruby was compliant. "It's about time we headed to the CTT." She tried, gently.

The response was venomous, "What's the fucking point." It was less of a question and more of a despondent statement. Evidently she was still feeling down, depsite the amount of days that had passed since the scroll call.

Weiss sighed and closed the door softly behind her, moving further into the room. It would be difficult for anyone to receive such news, and Ruby had already been through so much. The Schnee understood this all too well, but moping for days on end was not going to solve anything. Her teammate needed to snap out of it.

"The point is to figure out who kidnapped and turned you into a faunus. We need to find out if there is a correlation between the SDC attacks and the experimentation you endured, we need answers Ruby, you need answers. And those criminals - those murderers - must be brought to justice.

Ruby growled and shot up suddenly. She whipped around to face the Schnee, ears pinned back, teeth bared and fury filling her crimson eyes. "What's the fucking point if I'm just gonna turn into a monster in the end?!" The volume of her voice increased dramatically until she was shouting at her white-haired companion.

It was a rhetorical question, borne from distress and hopelessness. Weiss answered anyway.  
"You're forgetting the part where Qrow said it is a possibility. There is a chance that you could become a Grimm, of course, but it is also possible that you won't. More than likely it would take a lot to become one, so I highly doubt it will happen." Weiss folded her arms over her chest.  
"Stop sulking, stop blowing up at people and start being our team leader."

Ruby's anger dissipated just as quickly as it had flared. She visibly deflated, like a pierced balloon. This is what she does every time; instead of facing her feelings like an adult she blows up at people and isolates herself from those around her. Her attempts at pushing people away to avoid harming them cause tension and inconveniences which hurt them anyway.

She really is a child.

The young faunus lowered her head in shame, hands coming up to cover her face and ears flattening against her hair.  
"I-I just. I..." The words caught in her throat. She took a shaky breath before continuing. "I don't know what to do. I don't want to become a monster. I don't want to put anyone in danger, especially you, Blake and Yang. I don't want to die as one of those disgusting things" Ruby chocked back a sob, unable to prevent the tears leaking; they fell to her hands and dripped through the small gaps between her fingers, running down her arms.

Almost as though it was second nature, Weiss knew what to do. She swiftly but  
carefully climbed the rope suspended bed and settled next to the younger girl, her lace skirt touching Ruby's knee.  
Placing her arm around the Reaper, she embraced the hunched figure in a side hug, letting the raven haired head drop onto her shoulder. At the caring gesture, Ruby whimpered and sobbed harder.

Weiss sighed in sympathy and did the only thing she could think to do next. She gently tugged on Ruby's sleeve, encouraging her to follow suit, and lay back onto the bed with her. She directed Ruby's head to her chest and threaded her fingers through matted ebony hair, carefully teasing out the knots.

They lay in silence for a few moments, the sobbing slowing to the occasional sniffle. The steady heartbeat beneath one lupine ear and the soothing pull at her hair was enough to calm her distress enough for Weiss to speak.

"I don't believe you will turn into a Grimm, don't worry. Everything will be alright, you're too strong for that to happen. Infuriatingly stubborn, too." Weiss smiled fondly, "But most of all, you are determined not to let situations like this get you down for long. I know it won't happen for those qualities and more. And if you still don't agree? Then know that I won't let that ever happen; I will find a way to prevent it - we all will, Ruby."  
Weiss rubbed relaxing circles onto Ruby's back. "But for now, let's get everything else sorted first."  
Her voice was soft and gentle; a soothing sound that the other girl needed to hear.

They stayed silent for a while, a comfortable quietness they both basked in.

"How are you feeling?" The Heiress said after a few silent moments. 

The faunus' voice was muffled, "Better." She replied drowsily.

"Are you tired?" The snow angel asked.

The younger girl nodded slowly against Weiss' chest, adjusting her position to a more comfortable one, and nuzzled into Weiss' neck. Her fluffy ears tickled the heiress' chin. Ruby curled up subconsciously, interlocking their legs and pressing closer.  
As the two nestled warmly together, a peaceful quiet drifted between them. A rare moment of soundless tranquility in which time stalled and all worries, no matter how large or small, ebbed into nothingness. The relaxation lulled the girls to sleep; they dreamt of simpler times, where all that mattered were each other.

They stayed like that for a few hours, secure in one another's embrace. Soft smiles adorned their faces as they slept.

The peace was shattered suddenly when the dorm door burst open, slamming against the wall. A flurry a yellow rushed through the doorway and stopped in the middle of the room, arms splayed open and yelled:  
"We're back, bitches!"

Two pairs of eyes snapped open at the unexpected noise, Weiss and Ruby bolted upright upon the suspended bed. In their sheer confusion and hurry to separate, the two forgot where they were and inadvertently fell off the side of the bed, tumbling arse over heads onto the carpeted floor.

Roaring laughter filled the room as the two girls worked to untangle themselves. When they finally stumbled to their feet, both of their complexions were as red as Ruby's cloak. They scowled as they looked up at the rambunctious figure.  
Yang was hunched at the waist, arms wrapped around her stomach as she laughed uncontrollably.

"What the hell, Yang!" Weiss screeched, biting back expletives toward the blonde brute.

The firecracker chortled, "Aw man, you should have seen your faces!" She choked out in-between fits of laughter, wiping stray tears from her eyes.

"Why the fuck did you do that? That wasn’t even remotely funny." Ruby questioned beside the snowy-haired girl, her tone, surprisingly much calmer considering what had just happened.

Yang stood up properly, one hand on her aching stomach. "Well, none of you were answering your scrolls so I had a feeling you would be asleep, but wow," she snorted. "I never expected to burst in and see you both in the same bed. Cuddling." She replied, a shit eating grin stretched across her face as she studied the girls' increasingly reddening faces.

Ruby looked away in embarrassment.

Blake, having followed quietly behind Yang like a calm and respectable individual, rolled her eyes at the scene, standing arms-crossed in the doorway.

The Heiress took a deep breath to gain her composure and straightened herself out, brushing dust from her pristine white skirt. She attempted to explain the situation in as little detail as possible.  
"If you must know," she huffed. "Ruby was upset, so I comforted her. We just happened to fall asleep in such a...close position."  
When she finished, Weiss gracefully sat down onto her bed, averting her gaze and titling her chin up slightly.  
Her ivory skin had yet to return to a normal shade.

Ruby moved to her own bed, still avoiding eye-contact.

Yang shrugged to herself and turned to the other faunus, a glint in her eye. "Hey Blake, you hungry? I saw a really nice sushi restaurant in Vale. Wanna go?" She grinned and wiggled her eyebrows impishly.

The faunus in question hummed and walked further into the room, taking her scroll out of her pocket. Eyes trained on the device, she walked past the blonde and headed to her own bed.  
Without looking up she replied, distracted, "Maybe another time. I want to finish my most recent book today."

Yang's grin faltered briefly, before she pointed finger guns at her teammate. "I'll hold you to that." She winked. "Well, 'Imma go to the cafeteria and then hit the gym. Smell ya later."  
With that, she collected her gym bag and headed back out.

Weiss watched the interaction curiously. Blake remained silent, gaze still focused on her scroll as she typed.  
The Schnee frowned at the odd occurrence, but shook her head and stood up once more, pulling her combat skirt down.  
"I may as well get the CCT over and done with. I shouldn't be too long."

That left Ruby and Blake. The younger girl considered starting up a conversation but decided against it; conversing with her fellow faunus had never been particularly easy, if anything, attempting to do so was rather awkward. They got along well enough, but talking was neither of their strong suits.  
Instead, Ruby climbed back down from her bed and walked toward the door.

"I'm going to head out too, I'll be in the combat training arena. If you were, uh, wondering..." She paused in front of the door, watching the other girl and awaiting a response. When one never came she blinked, puzzled.  
"Ookay then, see ya later." She lifted her hand up in an awkward wave before rushing out of the room.

Blake was never particularly bothered about being alone, she much preferred it that way. It meant she could read her book in peace for once - it was never truly quiet with three other girls around.

As she settled in for a tranquil hour or so re-reading her favourite book, 'Ninjas of Love', her scroll buzzed with a new notification. She huffed and set the book aside to unlock the noisy device.

Upon noticing the name on the screen, a small soft smile graced her features. She pressed the display, opening the message.

"Hello, my Love. I hope all is well on your end."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s chapter 15 done. Whilst Pookie is editing chapter 1 of Divine Destiny’s, I’ve decided I’m going to try to figure things out for chapter 16 of CR. No promises that it’ll be published any time soon as the writing for DD is our main priority right now. In other words updates for CR will be stalled and will be veeeeeery slow. Not that their fast anyways XD  
> Anyways thanks for reading. See you next chapter.
> 
> Side note: if you wish, follow out tumblr pages for updates and snippets on the stories as well whiterose fluff and other things.  
> rwbyfan1997  
> pookirove
> 
> Alternatively you can join our discord server. Make friends, get regular updates on CR and DD as well as laughs and giggles. See awesome fan art and just have fun. (DM me or Pookie on tumblr for a link or there is a working link on both of our tumblr pages)  
> Thanks guys and happy reading :)


	16. Minotaur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team RWBY finally meet with the infamous Minotaur. Will they find the answers they are looking for? Or will their plan to capture the Minotaur be interrupted by unforeseen events?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my lovely readers. It’s been quite awhile since i last updated. To tell you the truth, i was struggling to write this chapter. I couldn’t quite figure out the meeting and what would happen but thank god for Pookie.   
> I either ended up writing loads and having unnecessary stuff in it and making it super long or it ended up too short. But alas, my editor came to rescue once more.
> 
> So here it is. chapter 16. I hope you all enjoy and don’t kill me after what i d to Yang. See you all at the end and happy reading! :)

The day of the meeting came faster than Team RWBY had anticipated. Weiss had come back from the CCT with nothing more than a look of defeat on her face. She had explained to the rest of her team that her father had intercepted the video call and prohibited her from requesting any and all documents from the SDC.

As disappointing as it was, Team RWBY still informed Ozpin of the meeting with the Minotaur and requested that any huntsmen he had employed stay on standby on the cliff above the Emerald Forest. He reluctantly agreed after explaining he would be watching from the cameras Yang and Blake had placed throughout the forest. At any sign of more people than that of the Minotaur or any mortal danger, he would send the huntsmen in.

Now the time had come for the team to set off to the Emerald Forest. Well they’d set off awhile ago after checking and double checking their huntsmen gear, weapons and ammunition. Their weapons were mainly for defensive purposes and a contingency in case they’d have to fight. They hoped they wouldn’t need to.

As the multi-coloured team made their way into the forest, confirmation of the Minotaur’s arrival pinged through their scrolls. The cameras and motion sensors picking up his movements. The team stopped as Ruby quickly checked to make sure he was alone. Thanking the gods that he was, they set off again.

They soon arrived in a clearing, facing a bull faunus with crimson red hair, a black jacket with intricate red and white patterns as well as black trousers and black shoes. A half Grimm mask covered his eyes and the bridge of his nose whilst his hand clasped the hilt of a sword, in its scabbard, by his side. 

The young Reaper stepped forward to address the bull faunus after a few moments of an unofficial staring contest entailed.

“I didn’t think you’d actually turn up, Minotaur.” She spat the name venomously, full of hatred and disgust.

The bull didn’t so much as flinch and kept his voice smooth and calm. “Of course I would turn up. Our employers want you back so when you contacted us for a meeting, the boss left it to me to either convince you to return willingly or drag you back half dead.”

“I’m not coming back. Not now, nor ever! All i wanna know is who the hell are our ‘employers’? Why turn me into a faunus? What was used to do so? Why wipe my memory of everything you ever did to me apart from the training?” Ruby listed off, her voice rising in volume in frustration.

The Minotaur scoffed and replied. “You know I cannot answer those questions, Crimson.”   
the young Reaper hadn’t heard that name in quite some time. She had almost forgotten that name and what it meant. What that name was associated with. Thankfully, Ruby had already explained to her team that she not only killed Grimm, but assassinated whoever her ‘employer’ wanted dead before coming to Beacon.

“Why not come back to headquarters and all of your questions will be answered there and then?” The bull faunus asked, earning a glare in reply from the young Reaper.

As the bull and wolf faunus argued about what would happen and what wouldn’t, Yang noticed the Minotaur’s hand twitch. It looked like some sort of signal to someone.

‘No, I’m being paranoid. There’s no one else here apart from us.’ She thought but as soon as that thought passed, to her shock, her partner pulled out what looked to be a pistol and deliberately aimed it at Ruby. 

Before the blonde could react, the raven-haired girl pulled the trigger. An almost silent shot of an aura piercing dart flew through the air. The impact shocked the young Reaper, her expression being the evidence as the dart stuck out of the back of her neck.

The young faunus swayed in place before beginning to fall forwards. Weiss was quick to try and catch her but stopped abruptly. 

A shadow of Blake stood between Weiss and Ruby whilst the real Blake swiftly caught the younger girl. Another shadow being put in place as she reappeared next to the Minotaur; facing away from Weiss and Yang.

The Minotaur spoke quietly to her; her only response being a simple nod. The only thing the white and yellow pair could do was stare, dumbfounded and in disbelief. Their own team-mate had very obviously betrayed them and the only thing they could do was watch.

After what seemed like an eternity, Blake slowly turned; her eyes meeting Yang’s. A sadistic smirk etched onto her face as her eyes shone with malicious intent and unfounded joy.

Seeing the traitor’s smirk as well as Ruby lying unconscious in the raven-haired girl’s arms, the blonde snapped. Something in her mind making all rational thoughts fly out of the metaphorical window. 

She cocked Ember Celica and with a blast, she charged forwards with no plan in mind. She just wanted to wipe the smirk of the traitor’s face and rescue Ruby. 

Unfortunately, life is a complete utter massive bitch. 

It was like time slowed down in the moments of Yang blasting forwards. Weiss desperately trying to form speed glyphs to stop the blonde whilst the Minotaur stepped forward.

He held his sword in a tighter grip and as time sped back up, he drew it and sheathed it with incredible speed as Yang came close enough to strike. 

The look of horror on the blonde’s face spoke of all the fear she should have felt before attacking. It spoke of hatred towards her now former partner. The only thing she could do was let the bull faunus’ sword go through her.

The amount of time it took for the blonde’s body to hit the ground felt like forever; her right arm following her soon after in a crimson mess.

At Yang’s unconscious body hitting the ground, the Minotaur quietly spoke to Blake once more, her reply was a simple nod before they both turned around and stepped into the bushes.

Thankfully, Weiss had deactivated her speed glyphs half way to the blonde, lest she suffer the same fate.

Thinking things through carefully but quickly, he Heiress found herself in a rather big predicament. She could either follow Blake and the Minotaur and try to save her partner or she could stay with Yang and give her the medical attention she desperately needed.

After much arguing with herself, she opted to tay with Yang. The blonde was bleeding out so she took her scroll out and pressed the distress button and then began to stop Yang from bleeding to death. 

It didn’t take long for huntsmen to flood the area; Ozpin had most likely given them the go ahead after watching Blake betray them. She finished up her first aid, managing to stop the blonde’s bleeding with ice dust. 

Sometime later, they all arrived back at Beacon, the white and yellow pair being taken to the onsite infirmary. 

Fortunately, Weiss was mainly in shock. The amount of blood on her dress making it look as though she were injured as well but thankfully, she wasn’t. 

The white-haired girl was discharged but didn’t want to leave. She didn’t want to leave her remaining team-mate. Yang would need someone to be there for her when she woke up. She would need someone’s comfort and assurance that the would one day find and rescue Ruby. They would both find answers to everything Ruby needed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That marks the end of chapter 16. I really hope you all enjoyed. As you can probably tell, this chapter was not edited by my awesome but ‘unreliable’ editor (just kidding bro!). 
> 
> Chapter 17 will most likely be awhile. Like a really long while. I apologise in advance.
> 
> On another note, Pookie is sort of editing Divine Destiny’s chapter 1. It’s taking so long because she hasn’t had much motivation to do so. So please bare with both of us. 
> 
> Anyways, thanks for reading and see you all next chapter. Most likely in the next month. Byeeee for now.


	17. Reaper’s Kidnappers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to find out the truth behind Ruby’s kidnappers. What do they want and why are doing unspeakable things to Ruby?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello lovely readers. 7 days ago I posted chapter 16. Even though it says I posted on the 9th. That is wrong.   
> Anywho, here is the week long awaited chapter 17 with all the answers you’ve all probably been asking.   
> Apologies in advance that this chapter is a bit of an info dump but it answers a lot of questions. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy and I hope to speak to you in the comments. Happy reading :)

Two days had past since Ruby had once again been kidnapped. Only this time, she didn’t know anything that had happened to her team after she had been knocked unconscious. She didn’t even know she’d been taken away again so for all she knew, she was dead. Well, that would be the case if she weren’t currently dreaming.

Soon enough, however, her pleasant dreams of snowy red rose filled fields came to an end as she began to stir. 

The young Reaper instantly noted how her head felt like someone was playing drums on it, her hearing was rather fuzzy and muffled and she felt so groggy it was like she hadn’t slept in weeks.

As the red cloaked girl became a little more aware, she could now hear two muffled but dee voices. Voices of two men that sounded so close yet so distant. She couldn’t quite tel what they were saying, her head and ears hurting too much to concentrate. 

After a few more moments of the men talking, she could tell they were moving closer to her; their voices becoming clearer.

“Walker her up. I want her reprocessed as soon as possible. Wipe her memory after the first so we have a clean slate to work with.” One of the voices said, his voice full of authority.

“Yes, Sir.” came really simple reply of the other.

At that, Ruby’s eyes snapped open, her eyes fighting to adjust to the new lighting of the room they were in. She instantly regretted opening her eyes.

The same pristine white walls of the place she had nightmares about. The metal chair she always dreaded to see in her dreams and in reality. She was back in the horrific laboratory she’d endured for eight years. Or was she? To Ruby, it looked like one of her nightmares again. She didn’t want to believe it was real. Her denial of reality would most likely cost her. The payment of more pain the only thing that would satisfy the universe. 

She began to struggle against the restraints of the metal chair, the straps much stronger than she remembered, holding her in place with ease. Unfortunately for Ruby, her struggling caught the attention of the two other occupants of the room.

“Looks like she’s already awake, Sir. Shall i begin or wait a little?” One of the men said.

Ruby focused on him immediately, noticing the lab coat he wore that had no distinguishable symbol on it as well as black trousers, black shoes and a white shirt. His eyes were the colour of a forest in spring, his hair the colour of autumn. 

“No, not yet. I wish to clarify a few things with her.” The other man said but Ruby kept her attention on the man in the lab coat.

“This has to be another nightmare. It has to be. I cant be here again. I swear I’m in my teams dorm room sound asleep.@ the young Reaper muttered to herself, finally giving up on trying to get out of the metal chair. For now anyways.

“I’m afraid this is not a dream, Reaper. Although, you are going to wish it were when we are done with you.” The other man said, now gaining Ruby’s attention. She couldn’t see what he looked like, her vision blurring as tears began to stream down her face.

“This has to be a dream!” She yelled, once again struggling against her restraints. “I’ll bust out of this damned chair like i always do!”

The man chuckled humourlessly, “You will never escape from that chair nor from this facility. You have been brought back here for your own good. Away from that wretched useless team of yours. A killer has no need for friends.”

The memories of what had happened in the forest flooded back to her at the mention of her team, stopping her from arguing back. she remembered arguing with the Minotaur and then feeling something sticking out of her neck before being caught by someone as she fell unconscious. She soon realised it wasn’t a dream and everything around her was real, including the people in front of her.

Her tears instantly dried up, her expression turning into an apathetic one as she took in the man before her. He wore a sophisticated, pristine baby blue suit, a red cloth tucked neatly into the breast pocket. His hair was as white as snow, a white caterpillar of a moustache hanging above his top lip and his eyes were a familiar but much more intimidating ice cold blue.

It clicks on who the man could be but the young girl still needed confirmation. So she asked. “Who are you and what do you want from me?”

The white-haired man sighed deeply as if the young faunus’ question was stupid. He answered her anyway. 

“I am your employer, Reaper. I am Jacques Schnee, the CEO of the Schnee Dust Company and the richest man in Atlas. Most likely in all of Remnant.” He explained easily, earning a shocked look from the young Reaper.

She soon recovered and replied with another two questions. “Why experiment on me? Why turn me into a faunus?”

The man, now known as Jacques, thought for a moment before answering her questions. “I intend to create the most powerful army that has ever existed within Remnant. Something that could over power Ironwoods army. You were not the only one to be experimented on, Reaper. Some worked, some did not. When you have been reprocessed and trained, you will become a squad leader.”

Jacques began to pace across the large white room, explaining his intentions away like they were nothing. The young Reaper could only stare and listen to what the mad man was saying, completely dumbfounded at what was being explained.

“The experiments I conducted were all based off of Reaper DNA, faunus DNA and how I could implement dust into it. It took eight years but it worked. Unfortunately my efforts were wasted when you got caught, but with more effort and experimentation, I was able to come up with a new dust. Something that has all three of those items as well as the hardest material to acquire.” He continued explaining, pausing for Ruby to ask the obvious question he wanted her to ask.

The young Reaper humoured him. “And what would that be?” She asked, sounding bored and unimpressed.

“The hardest material to acquire in all of Remnant is Grimm DNA. With the use of this DNA I have been able to create new superior Reaper species, who were once human or faunus. Those that were human beforehand became an incredibly powerful faunus Reaper, just like you, but much stronger. That is what I will be doing to reprocess you. Adding a little Grimm DNA amongst other things.” Jacques smiled an insane smile, one that sent shivers down Ruby’s spine.

“Why turn humans into monsters and why tell me all of this?” She bluntly questioned, trying to shift in the metal chair.

“Well Reaper, you won’t even remember by tomorrow morning. And turning humans and faunus into superior beings is a way for me to take the long forgotten throne of Remnant. Faunus and former humans will just be something I call expendable. The White Fang will get the blame for most or all of the damage all thanks to having Adam Taurus and Blake Belladonna on the inside.” The older Schnee explained again, continuing his pacing.

At the explanation, something in Ruby snapped; her hidden rage bursting through the dams holding it back. “You experimented on people and turned them into monster for fucking power!? You turned me into a killer just for power!? Just to see if your sick experiments worked or not!? I was a fucking child you sick fuck!” 

Instantly, Jacques stopped his pacing, turned to Ruby and made his way over to her. He raised his fist and swung, hitting the young faunus across the face. 

If it weren’t for the restraints holding her head in place, she was sure her head would’ve bounced off the side of the chair. Instead, the pain she had in her head earlier doubled, her vision blurring. The psychopathic man had almost knocked her out with one swing. How? The answer came soon enough.

“Looks like the aura-draining checks out. Shall I start the reprocessing now Sir? Time is ticking.” The man in the lab coat asked, sounding far away.

“Yes. Begin the reprocessing, wipe her memories and knock her out afterwards.” The SDC CEO said as the young Reaper regained her senses.

The young Reaper stopped struggling once more, glaring murderously at the CEO. Something wasn’t adding up. Something important. The White Fang attack the SDC suffered as well as the theft of two experimental dusts. “What about the White Fang attack and the stole dusts from years ago?” She growled out, her head still hurting.

“Are you stupid, Reaper? I orchestrated that attack to make it look like the White Fang attacked us and then reported two experimental dusts stolen. I did that so I could freely experiment on whomever I liked whenever I liked.” He replied, laughing humourlessly.

The young Reaper growled threateningly as the lab coated man picked a syringe up from behind her. He flicked it before walking back around and lining the needle up with the vein in her arm. Ruby looked away from the Jacques and glared daggers at the man next to her but was surprised to see a sympathetic look on his face as he jammed the needle deep in her arm; the dark purple liquid following soon after.

She screamed immediately, the feeling of electricity flowing through her veins. She didn’t feel any of the other needles, the other pain too great to feel anything less but she was soon back to where she started, groggy and falling unconscious. 

She heard Jacques say one last thing before she embraced the dark abyss of unconsciousness.

“I will be back later, I have to retrieve my daughter from that the pathetic academy. Keep up the good work.”

Then she was gone. Into the dark depths of unwilling sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that is the end of chapter 17. I hope to god it answered at least some of your questions. I can guarantee that loads of you thought it would’ve been the White Fang. But nooooope, I wanted a twist to this twisted tale. 
> 
> I wonder if any of you guessed it would’ve been Jacques of all people. If you think about it, why would Salem want Ruby if Ruby is a Reaper and Reapers destroy Grimm? Also, why would the White Fang want Ruby other than the fact she’s a strong faunus but not by choice. Although the White Fang are a plausible idea because of the fact they would need more to battle against the humans and whatnot for equality but noope.  
> Anywho, I hope y’all liked the chapter and the twist. Hope to see you all next chapter! See you soon guys and happy reading :)


	18. Recovery Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Weiss begin their road to recovery. Their friendship is tested in an argument on why Weiss didn’t go after Ruby and Blake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! If anyone is following my tumblr page on here, I would like to say, sorrrrry. And like I said on my tumblr page, I promised to have this done in 5 days which was 6 days ago now but I’ve had stuff happening and I had writers block and then members of the discord server wanted a recovery chapter. And yes, I’ve decided to split it into two parts. Although the second part will come after chapter 19. So that’d make it chapter 20 but don’t worry! Because you know what!? I’m treating all of you lovely people to a TRIPLE update. Yeah you read that right.   
> Anywho, I’ve spoken too much now.
> 
> Hope you all enjoy and remember, happy reading! :)

Waiting in the infirmary waiting room wasn’t an ideal place to be; even if it was on Beacon Academy’s grounds with a few third years waiting to be seen. It was supposed to be a more relaxed atmosphere, but how could it be when all Weiss could think about was what had just happened. How could she not think about the moment Yang dropped to the ground with one less arm? How could she not think about the moment was taken from them in no time at all? How could she not think about Blake betraying them? Their own teammate they all trusted had betrayed them in a heartbeat. What the hell was she supposed to do but think about all of what had happened?

Well, the answer was to sit and wait for news about Yang. Or wait for her father to come and pick her up and take her back to Atlas. She knew her father would’ve been told about what had happened so it was only a matter of time before he did come for her.

In the midst of her thoughts, a doctor had come into the waiting room looking for someone. Probably another patient so she paid no mind to him until the sound of her name pulled her attention to him. 

“Miss Schnee?”

“Erm... yes? Is Yang alright?” The white-haired girl inquired, trying not to get her hopes up.

“She’s doing fine Miss Schnee. Her arm is surprisingly healing faster than we thought it would. That may be because of her heritage.” The doctor explained, looking down at the clipboard in his hands.

“Her heritage?” Weiss inquires, cocking a white eyebrow in question. Or confusion. She didn’t know.

“Yes, her heritage. I hear her cousin, Miss Rose, is a full blooded Reaper. Her father being a Reaper as well as her mother. Now Miss Xiao-Long’s father is human as far as I’m aware whereas her mother, Raven, is a Reaper. Or rather, was a Reaper. Meaning Miss Xiao-Long is half Reaper. That would explain her injury healing as fast as it is.” He explained, still reading from his clipboard.

“That...makes sense. Will she make a full recovery?” Weiss asked, worry slipping passed her usually frozen walls for her blonde teammate.

At that, the doctor looked up and thought for a moment, calculating whether or not Yang would fully recover. 

“She should recover but not fully. She will need a prosthetic but those are very expensive, even for the ones non-huntsmen use. Mentally, she will struggle. She will need plenty of support with it all. She will most likely suffer from PTSD and clinical depression.” He clarified, looking back down at his clipboard. 

That was starting to annoy Weiss, the way he kept avoiding her gaze, like he was hiding something.   
Okay, maybe she was being paranoid. She thought everyone was hiding something. Especially after today. But it was still rude not to keep eye contact with someone you’re talking to.

Pushing the irritation away, an idea popped into her head. If Yang needed a prosthetic, why not attain the best one Atlas had on the market. Valean tech wasn’t nearly as strong as Atlesian. First though, she needed to make sure her father wasn’t coming to take her back to that wretched place. Secondly, she needed to actually respond to the doctor instead of getting lost in her never ending worrying thoughts. 

“She will have someone to support her, I can guarantee you that. And there will be no worries about the price for a prosthetic.” Weiss elucidated, making the doctor look up again.

“Good. You may see her, although she is unconscious right now. She will awaken soon enough.” The doctor said and turned swiftly, walking back the way he came.

Weiss stood and followed the doctor until she came to the receptionists desk where a bored looking brunette sat. She immediately asked what room Yang was in and after receiving the information, made her way to the correct room.

It didn’t take long to find it but she still paused and reached hesitantly towards the door handle. Would Yang want her there? Would Yang want her support when she wakes up? Will she be blamed for Yang losing her arm? Probably, she deserved the blame. If she was fast enough, she would have been able to stop Yang from attacking. If she was strong enough, she would have been able to stop Ruby from being taken. If she was more capable, she would have been able to chase Blake down and rescue Ruby and maybe even take down the Minotaur. But she wasn’t. At least, she thought that of herself. She thought she’d failed her team but she couldn’t run and hide like she wanted to. She had to stay and support Yang through everything. She had to stay and train to become stronger so she could find and rescue Ruby and track down Blake and find out why she’d betrayed them.

Steeling herself, she twisted the handle and opened the door, finding that Yang was still unconscious. Hopefully she would wake up soon. Which was rather soon. 

As soon as Weiss sat down, the blonde brawler began to stir. Almost as if the white-haired girl’s presence allowed the taller girl to come back into the conscious world.

She waited for Yang to crack her eyes open to speak or make any move. She didn’t want to startle the blonde and end up having a fist greet her. So, she waited.

Suddenly, Yang shot up in the hospital bed. Sitting up and looking around, she was clearly scared and confused. Now it was time Weiss made her presence known. Well, she didn’t need to when lilac eyes locked onto her; the blonde looking terrified beyond measure, her eyes unfocused and definitely not seeing the Heiress.

She blinked a few times before her eyes finally focused and her brain began to work properly. 

“Weiss?” The question was simple but meant much more than what it sounded like. 

Weiss knew what it meant. She knew it meant, where’s Ruby? Where’s Blake? What happened? Was the nightmare she just endured real? Did she really lose her arm?

All of those questions were soon answered when crystal blues flitted to the stump where the blonde’s arm should be. Yang followed the blue gaze and found her arm was indeed missing.

So many emotions ran across her face all at once. Sadness, confusion, fear and unbridled rage. Next thing Weiss knew, she was in the vice grip of a still very strong hand. Yang had practically jumped up from her bed, grabbed Weiss and lifted her from her seat to meet quickly reddening eyes. 

“Yang-“ the white-haired girl tried but was abruptly interrupted.

“Don’t ‘Yang’ me. Where’s Ruby? Where’s Blake?” The blonde growled out through gritted teeth.

“I...I don’t-“

“Don’t say you don’t know! You know where they are! We both know! Why didn’t you go after them!?” Yang screamed, tightening her grip on what little fabric she had a hold of.

Weiss didn’t answer, fear growing rapidly throughout her being. Even if Yang had been injured, she was still damned strong and knowing the blonde, she wouldn’t think twice about putting Weiss in a hospital bed. Not right now anyway.

“Well!?” Yang screamed again, becoming impatient and more agitated with the Ivory-haired girl’s unresponsiveness. 

“Be...because-“ she stuttered, trying so desperately to push her fear down.

“Speak up! Why didn’t you go after Ruby!?” The blonde was furious, her red eyes turning a darker shade, if that was possible. 

Weiss had, had enough of being screamed at. It would probably land her in a hospital bed, but she didn’t care. 

“Because if I had, you would have died!” She finally screamed back. “Because you would have bled to death before I...I’d have got ba...back to you!” The instant she thought about losing her teammate, her friend, the tears started to flow, sobs wracking her entire being.

It seemed to shock Yang that Weiss was showing her vulnerability. That she was sobbing from the thought of Yang dying. Her anger dissipated as fast as it had come, her eyes returning back to the soft lilac they usually are and tears threatened to spill out. The blonde let go and pulled the ivory-haired girl into a tight embrace. It didn’t seem to help as Weiss sobbed harder.

“I’m sorry.” The blonde said, realising that if Weiss had gone after Ruby and Blake, she would have most likely died and so would Weiss. There wouldn’t have been anyone to rescue Ruby and bring down the White Fang. That’s if they’re the ones responsible. 

Yang gently led the Heiress over to the hospital bed and sat down. She didn’t care if someone walked in and found that Weiss was being rocked back and forth in the blonde’s lap, being comforted by the brawler. It didn’t matter as long as they were both alive. Both alive so they could find and rescue Ruby and capture Blake to see why she betrayed them.

They stayed like that for a long time, a nurse came in at one point but left them alone immediately: Only after Yang had glared daggers at them. The Heiress’ sobs turned to sniffles but even then, she stayed curled up on Yang’s lap whilst being gently rocked. Of course, the blonde’s eyes hadn’t stayed dry throughout the course of Weiss’ sobbing.

It was rather difficult to keep Weiss in her lap with just one hand, she supposed she’d get used to it. She was already quite amazed at how fast her arm had healed. Within hours, it was practically healed, still a little sore but nothing she couldn’t handle.

“Weiss? You okay?” She quietly asked, keeping her voice as soft as possible.

The girl in question simply nodded but didn’t make any move to get up. Yang needed to move, it was getting harder to keep Weiss upright.   
“Weiss, I’m sorry but I need you to get up.” the blonde softly said. 

Weiss all but slowly got up and sluggishly sat on the hospital chair. Her eyes were red as puffy, her cheeks were stained with tear tracks and she looked so, so tired. She began to fall asleep in the uncomfortable chair but jumped every time she nearly fell off. Considering the circumstances, it made Yang chuckle.

“Weiss,” she gently said, “go get some rest. I’ll be fine here for awhile.” 

Weiss simply looked at her with tired, red puffy eyes and nodded numbly. She didn’t make any move though. She stayed there for a bit longer whilst her brain slowly registered what it needed to do.

Eventually, she got up and dragged her feet over to the hospital door but she turned around when she was half way through it. “Thank you Yang.” She said, her voice raspy and tired from all of the crying.

Now it was just Yang in the room, left to her own thoughts. First the sadness came and her shoulders slumped. Then the regret of attacking without thinking and ultimately losing her arm and then anger overtook that feeling. She was so angry now. But not as angry as before. She was angry because she should have seen the signs that Blake was going to betray them. As her partner, she should have known something was wrong and acted accordingly, but her growing feelings for her now former partner got in the way and made her blind to the truth. They do say that love is blind. 

But if that was the case, then why didn’t Weiss and/or Ruby see it? Why didn’t they see that something was wrong within their team? It didn’t make sense. They should’ve been able to see the signs but they didn’t. 

Yang wracked her brain and still couldn’t come up with anything. Her anger getting in the way as usual. She sighed deeply and lay back onto the hospital bed, closing her eyes. As she did, the image of the Minotaur slicing through her arm appeared. Her eyes shot open instantly, her heart racing a mile a minute. The anger being quickly replaced with fear. 

She took a few moments to calm herself before closing her eyes again. Again, a horrific image popped up; this time it was of Blake smirking sadistically at her with an unconscious Ruby in her arms. She opened her eyes again and decided she probably wasn’t going to get much sleep but the exhaustion of the day and her emotions had drained her so much that she didn’t even realise she’d fallen asleep. It wasn’t a dreamless sleep but full of nightmares of reliving what had happened.

In the dorm room, Weiss slowly made her way to her bed but eyed it like it was made from animal guts. As much as she didn’t want to sleep alone in the room, her bed was calling to her. Either that or she was hallucinating. 

She was so drained but she decided against sleeping in her own bed and huffed with effort to climb onto her partners. As soon as her head hit the rose scented pillow, she was asleep. Her dreams filled with nightmares of what Ruby must be going through. Nightmares of what had happened, what could have happened and what might happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeer I can explain about the mild freezerburn.... remember when I said Weiss is different in this story? Yeeeeah. 
> 
> Okay I can’t actually explain it, it’s just something that happened and now it’s staying. Sorry to none freezerburn fans.   
> (Small secret: I kinda like freezerburn but not as much as whiterose and bumblebee).
> 
> Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed that and I’ll see you in like ten minutes or something in Chapter 19: Plan to Find the Reaper.  
> Don’t forget, happy reading! :)


	19. Plan to Find the Reaper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang and Weiss try to come up with a plan to find and rescue Ruby. Weiss also has a gift for Yang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Errr I don’t even know if I can be bothered writing authors notes right now.  
> Sooooo instead I’ll just say hope you enjoy and happy reading! :D

Seven days after Rubys abduction:

A week had passed since Weiss’ breakdown. She was still miserable but she was determined to train as much as she could and become stronger. Of course, she left a few hours each day to visit Yang in the hospital; they still weren’t letting her out even though she was completely healed. 

The blonde often became agitated and just wanted to get out and start training herself; but she couldn’t do that with just one arm and could usually be found moping about in her assigned hospital room. 

She was still pissed off and wasn’t the best at keeping a conversation at the moment, Weiss had found that out after having her head bitten off more than once. Yang always apologised right after but she always still wore a scowl on her face, making Weiss rather hesitant to stay. She usually ended up staying anyway, even after visiting times had gone by. One doctor even tried to make her go but all she had to do was show him the famous Schnee glare and he soon backed down and allowed her to come and go as she pleased.

Thankfully, Ozpin had excused Weiss and Yang from classes for a quite awhile so they could prepare for rescuing Ruby. That’s if they could find her but they had no idea where to start looking. Until then, Yang stayed depressed and irritated.

Currently, Weiss was on her way back to Yangs hospital room, carrying something a little extra. Well it wasn’t little and it wasn’t big. She’d vowed to get Yang the best prosthetic in Atlas and she had. Now it was time to give it to her and see if she would finally stop moping about and start training. 

The white-haired girl stopped outside the door to Yangs room and knocked three times, patiently waiting for the usual ‘Come on’ or ‘Give me a minute’. Strangely, none of those phrases sounded out and she wondered if Yang was asleep or walking around the hospital. 

She knocked again and waited. Still no reply. So she hesitantly reached for the handle and opened the door to poke her head in. 

Weiss found the blonde doing push ups with one arm, on the ground with her earphones in. She’d finally got bored enough to actually start some sort of training or Weiss’ speech from a couple of days ago had made her think. Either one, she was happy that Yang was training. As small as it was.

The white-haired girl walked in and strolled around to the side where Yang would see her. She was concentrating that much, she didn’t even look up or notice the small shadow of Weiss.

Becoming impatient, Weiss placed the new prosthetic on the floor in front of Yang’s eyes. That’s when the blonde looked up, stopped doing push ups and stood up whilst taking her earphones out.

“Hey Weiss, what’s that?” The blonde greeted, immediately curious of what’s in the box.

“Something that will help you get back into training.” The white-haired girl simply replied, a small smile pulling at her lips. 

“Uh huh.” Came the reply to which Yang picked up the box and carried it over to her bed and left it there.

“Are you going to open it?” Weiss inquired, becoming worried at her teammates behaviour.

“In a minute, I need to change my shirt so could you…” Yang said, trailing off as she pointed to the door. 

“Oh! Sure.” Weiss made her way back out of the room and into the hallway, shutting the door behind her. She sighed and waited as patiently as she could for the blonde to change. 

Not too long later, Yang’s voice called out, “You can come back in now.”  
So she did and shut the door again before making her way over to the only chair in the room and sat down.

“Now are you going to open it?” She asked, clearly wanting to know Yang’s reaction.  
If it was a bad one, then she didn’t know what she’d do. She’d prefer a good reaction to the prosthetic but that wasn’t likely with Yang being how she was at the moment.

“Ugh. Fine.” The blonde responded bluntly, moving back towards the box and lifting the lid.

A gasp resounded throughout the room as Yang lay her eyes upon a yellow prosthetic with a built in Ember Celica. 

Weiss couldn’t quite see the expression the blonde had so she never expected to be tackled into a bear hug. 

“Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you!” The blonde repeated over and over again. 

“Yang…” the white-haired girl tried, her breath being taken from her lungs in the rib crushing hug.

“Oh sorry!” Yang said, stepping back and bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Wait, how much did this thing cost you! It looks so expensive! Weiss, I can’t accept this!” The blonde spoke quickly but Weiss still understood. 

It reminded her of a certain red-tipped brunette and her heart began to sink. It didn’t go unnoticed as Yang’s smile faded away and a concerned expression adorned her face instead.

“Weiss?”

“I’m fine.” She said, her automatic response to any question to do with her well being. “To answer your question, it was expensive but it wouldn’t put a dent in my bank account.” She tried to reassure, but Yang was not convinced.

“Weiss…” the blonde trailed off, her tone knowing there was something wrong and Weiss was avoiding it like she usually did. “I know you’re not okay. What’s wrong? You can talk to me you know. And I don’t know how much I can thank you for the new arm.”

Weiss sighed in exasperation, she knew nothing would go unnoticed by Yang, even after changing the subject. She didn’t have a choice if she wanted to tell Yang or not.

“You can tell me Weiss. Or has what happened a week ago completely gone now?” The blonde said, her expression pleading.

“It...it’s the way you were rambling.” She replied, keeping her gaze to the floor.

“What about it?” Yang softly asked before realising what Weiss was getting at but she let the alabaster girl say it herself.

“It reminded me of Ruby.” Tears were threatening to spill from her eyes again but she wouldn’t let them. She couldn’t. This was supposed to be a happy moment; Yang getting a new arm where she could get out of the hospital and start training again and rescue Ruby. 

“Yeah, I figured as much. I’m sorry Weiss.” She said, placing a reassuring hand on the smaller girl’s shoulder. “We will rescue her Weiss, I know we’ll find her and get her back but let’s just try and focus on training first. And I wanna try out this awesome looking arm.”

That got Weiss to smile a little. She was still upset but knew Yang was right. Focus on training and then find Ruby. Unless…

“I think I know of a way we could find a Ruby and train at the same time.” The white-haired girl began, speaking of her idea as soon she had thought of it.

“How?” Came the simple reply.

“I could ask my older sister or even find a few contacts to keep their ear out for anything to do with Ruby. It’s worth a try is it not?” She proposed, earning uncertain lilac eyes.

“Hmm I don’t know. Would they be trustworthy? And how would your sister investigate? I didn’t even know you have a sister.” Yang commented, thinking carefully about the suggestion.

“It’s just an idea and probably not very plausible but it could work. Especially if we have Professor Ozpin behind us.” Weiss debated, also thinking carefully.

Both girls remained in the same positions for some time, continuing to think of a plausible plan to find Ruby whilst they trained. 

“What about getting someone to investigate your dad? He seems to have something to hide. We could try to investigate the White Fang too but it won’t be easy.” Yang suggested instead.

“You might be onto something. I’ve had a feeling he’s hiding something concerning the experimental dusts and the White Fang attacks. I could have my sister keep an eye on him whilst we somehow infiltrated the White Fang.” Weiss replies, thinking in great detail.

Unfortunately, the plan to infiltrate the notorious terrorist group was instantly shot down. “Yeah, no. Any faunus would recognise you. One because of your white hair and two because of your distinctive blue eyes. And glyphs and stuck up-“ 

“Yang. I get it. They’d recognise me. But you can’t do something like that alone.” Weiss interrupted, knowing exactly what the blonde was about to say.

They stopped and began to think again. Both going through every plan they could think of. Nothing seemed as plausible as the one Weiss had suggested but it was too risky for Weiss. She’d no-doubtedly stick out like a sore thumb and become the main target and probably be strung up. None of them wanted that. Unless of course they figured out the most obvious thing they hadn’t.

“Weiss...what if we went with your plan to infiltrate the White Fang but you wear a disguise?” Yang suggested after watching Weiss think for a little bit.

“Yang. I didn’t even think of that. You are an fucking genius.” At that, Yang let out a loud laugh, hearing Weiss swear was always funny. Only because she didn’t seem like the sort of person to use such profanities.

How could Weiss not have thought of something so simple? Maybe it’s because a certain author gets to control what happens but you know….

The yellow and white pair soon got to work on formulating a decent enough plan to get into the White Fang. They thought of everything. From Weiss’ dramatic disguise to the problem of not being faunus. Weiss managed to find a store that sold realistic looking fancy dress items that would solve that problem. Another problem was them not necessarily smelling like the type of faunus they’d both opted to be. So they had to find something that would mask their scent. 

Time flew by when they finished their planning, all Weiss had to do now was call her sister. Easier said than done. 

“Weiss I’ll stay here with you if you want? Or if you don’t want to call your sister, we’ll just stick with the White Fang plan.” The blonde was at least giving Weiss a choice, knowing what the Heiress’ family were like. Well her father. She had never spoken of her sister before so she hadn’t a clue what their relationship was like.

“No. It’s fine Yang. We need to find Ruby at any means necessary.” Weiss replies, composing herself and readying her sister's contact details on her scroll. All she had to do was press the call button and it would ring. She kind of hoped that her sister wouldn’t pick up but she usually always did, no matter what she was doing.

So, she pressed the call button and waited. The call connected and up came a gorgeous woman with icy blue eyes and alabaster hair done up in a tight bun.

“What do I owe this pleasure, dear sister?” Weiss’ sister greeted, her voice smooth but held a certain authority to it.

“Hello Winter. How are you?” She politely greeted back which earned her a raised white eyebrow in return.

“Weiss, I know you’re calling for a reason. Not to exchange pleasantries. What is it?” 

“Straight to the point then. As always.” Weiss muttered.

“Weiss…” the older Schnee said in warning. It wasn’t a very nasty warning though, just something to stop the younger Schnee from muttering.

Weiss sighed under her breath before speaking. “I have a favour to ask of you.” 

“Oh? What is it?” Winter replied, raising both of her white eyebrows.

“Would you be able to keep an eye on...on father? Look into the stolen experimental dust incident?” She asked, her voice betraying her at the mention of her father.

“Weiss you know that case was shut down years ago. The White Fang attacked several research facilities for those two dusts. They took the dusts and they haven’t been seen since. What is this about?” Winter explained, eyeing Weiss carefully.

“Winter. Father is hiding something concerning the experimental dusts and the apparent White Fang attack. I tried to gather documents on it a while ago and he intercepted my video call and prohibited me from requesting any and all documents to do with it. I know he’s hiding something. He has to be.” Now she was getting frustrated, Winter wasn’t listening to her and it seemed like she wouldn’t be of any help.

“Hmm I did not know of that. But you avoided my question. What is this about?” She repeated her question much more firmly.

“Okay. You want to know. Fine. Our teammate was kidnapped at the age of seven and experimented on. She was turned into a faunus, most likely with one of the experimental dusts. My team and I wanted to help find out who is responsible. We had the chance but she was taken again a week ago. We met up with someone that calls themself the Minotaur. Our other teammate betrayed us and took Ruby along with the Minotaur. Ruby is known as the Crimson Reaper. I’m sure you’ll have a file or something on her.” Weiss explained, every word about Ruby was like being stabbed through the heart, but she had to explain it all so Winter would understand.

“Did you say the Minotaur and Crimson Reaper? How in Remnant did she get into Beacon? She is a criminal wanted around Remnant. Why did she get admitted to Beacon? How did she become your teammate?” Winter ranted, blasting off questions one after the other.

“Winter. That’s not important right now. She’s my friend and she didn’t get a choice in what she did. She’s a victim of whoever experimented on her and we want to find out who did it and stop them. So are you going to help us or not?” Weiss expounded and raised her voice a little.

“Well… When you put it like that…” Winter replied, shocking Weiss at how flustered she looked. The expression soon disappeared and her usual emotionless one replaced it. 

An uncomfortable silence befell them as Winter looked to be thinking about it. It took a few moments for Winter to come to a decision.   
“Alright. I will help you. I will try to keep my eye on father. No guarantee I’ll be able to do it effectively. I will also pull out the old files father handed in as well as case reports and look for any inconsistencies. I’ll do what I can Weiss but I cannot guarantee I will find anything worthwhile.” 

“Thank you Winter. This means a lot to me, I hope you know that.” Weiss replied, her gratitude showing through from the smile and determination on her face.

“Like I said Weiss, there is no guarantee I will find anything. I will update you on anything I find. I have to go now; duty calls.” 

“Alright. Speak to you later, Winter. And thank you.” Weiss said before the call cut off.

She turned to Yang and smiled. A genuine smile. She was happy they had someone to keep an eye on her father. She was happy that things were already moving forwards.

Unfortunately, they would have to wait awhile for any news on anything from Winter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed that. I wrote it today. And wrote chapter 20 today. Hopefully it just sound stupid. But thanks for reading anyways.  
> Never known it to be so hard to type when your cat decides she wants cuddles off you xD  
> Anywaaaays, I hope I hear back from more than one of you in the comments or if you want, join the discord server or follow my tumblr.   
> DM me on tumblr for the invite link to the server.  
> rwbyfan97#6247
> 
> And my tumblr is rwbyfan1997
> 
> See you in another ten minutes for Chapter 20: Recovery part 2. Happy reading! :)


	20. Recovery Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Backtrack a couple of day’s before chapter 19.   
> Yang is mopey again and actually pretty nasty.  
> A certain truth finally comes out about Weiss. And more...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can probably tell I actually couldn’t be bothered to write a proper summary. XD  
> But I hope it makes you all wonder what’s gonna happen.   
> Anywho, imma stop talking now so you guys can read it. Hope you enjoy and happy reading!

5 days after Ruby’s abduction:

Weiss was absolutely livid. The manufacturers of the Atlesian Prosthetic Company had told her that in order to place such an order, she would need the permission of either her father or the Headmaster of Beacon. Then they told her that an order would need about a month or to be built and customised. She couldn’t wait that long! Yang could wait that long either!

So, now she was on her way to Ozpin’s office to ask him to approve of the purchase. With a lot of hope, he would do. Of course, the Headmaster of Beacon wouldn’t allow one of his students to suffer for long. Would he?

Well, Weiss would soon find out as she was now outside his office door. She didn’t hesitate to knock. She rapped on the door three times and waited.

“Come in.” Ozpin’s voice said from the other side of the door.

Instantly, the white-haired girl opened the door and walked in, closing the door again as she did.

“What can I do for you, Miss Schnee?” Ozpin curiously inquired.

“I need your approval to purchase a customised Atlesian prosthetic arm for Yang. The company won’t allow me to make the purchase without either your approval or my father’s.” She explained, standing in front of Ozpin’s desk and holding out her scroll so he could see it.

“I see. You’re not the first person to request such a thing. I did approve there’s, so I will approve yours.” He said, taking the scroll and putting his details and signature on the screen.

“Thank you professor. Weiss said once he passed it back to her.

“Is that everything?” He raised a curious eyebrow, eyeing the Heiress.

“Yes, Sir. Thank you again.” She replied, starting to make her way out again.

“You’re very welcome Miss Schnee.”

Approval, check. Order made. Sort of check. All she had to do know was call the manager of the company and try to ‘persuade’ them to make it a top priority. Which she proceeded to do on the way back to Yang’s hospital room.

“Hello, this is Jane from APC speaking, how may I help you?” A woman from over the line said as the call connected. 

“Hello, I would like to speak to your manager please.” Weiss replied, being as polite as her mood would let her.

“May I ask who is speaking please and what would it be about?” The woman, Jane, asked.

“Weiss Schnee. And it is about none of your business.” The Heiress replied curtly.

Jane instantly connected the line to the manager who picked up straight away.

“Hello, CEO of APC speaking, what can I do for you?” The voice of another woman came through the line, albeit much more casual sounding.

“Hello, this is Weiss Schnee speaking. I was hoping I could persuade you to move my order up to top priority. I need it as soon as possible.” Again, Weiss replied as politely as possible.

“Ah Miss Schnee, can I ask why you would need a customisable A3-60 prosthetic arm?” The woman asked all too casually.

“If you must know it is for my friend, who is a huntress-in-training. She lost her arm and needs a new one. Is there something wrong with someone buying a prosthetic for their friend?” Weiss was getting rather pissed off. All she wanted was the arm to be placed in top priority and have it delivered as soon as. 

“Of course not Miss Schnee. I hope you understand but we have many brand new prosthetics to build from scratch. We can’t possibly-“ the woman began to explain, nonchalantly.

“You will put it at the top unless you want someone else in your position. You have to remember that APC is half owned by the SDC.” That’s all that Weiss needed to say before the apparent CEO backtracked.

“Alright Miss Schnee. Your order has been added as the highest priority. Staff will get to work on it immediately and it should arrive in the next week.” The woman said, panic appearing in her voice.

“I need it in the next two days, actually.” Weiss replied, challenging the woman to say no.

“Erm, I’ll see what I can do Miss Schnee.” 

“Good.” The white-haired girl said before ending the call.

The young Schnee smiled to herself at the prospect of being able to pretty much threaten any company CEO and get away with it. Her smile fell as soon as she saw Yang in her hospital room, doing nothing but moping around. Again.

“Yang. I thought you said you were going to train a little.” It wasn’t a question, it was more of a statement.

Weiss frowned as Yang continued to ignore her. “Yang.” She said, trying to gain the blonde’s attention.

Still no response. 

“Yang!” Weiss shouted, impatient as usual.

“What Weiss? What do you want?” Yang replied venomously.

The white-haired girl sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I said, I thought you were going to train a little whilst I was gone.”

“What’s the point? I can’t fight with one arm. I can’t train with one arm. I wouldn’t be able to rescue Ruby even if I wanted to with one arm. I can’t even tie my own hair up anymore!” Yang said, her voice growing louder as she spoke.

“The point is to learn how to do things with one arm. I know you can still do certain things in training. Why not try one armed pushups? Or maybe go for a run or a walk? And if you need help putting your hair up, that’s what I’m here for!” Weiss said, voice matching Yang’s.

“I can’t do anything with one arm! Don’t you understand. Oh wait, you wouldn’t because you’re not the one that lost an arm because of a stupid last second decision.” Yang growled out, now squaring up to Weiss.

“You can do things with one arm Yang! You don’t realise it but I do. And I might not understand what it’s like to lose an arm but I know what it’s like to fail in something I was supposed to be good at! I know what it’s like to blame myself time and time again. I still blame myself for not being fast enough to stop you or strong enough to stop Blake from taking Ruby! I might not understand what it’s like to lose an arm but I know what it’s like to lose someone I love!” 

Yang stood still, a dumbfounded expression etching itself onto her face. Even Weiss was shocked at what she’d just said once her brain had finally caught up. It didn’t take a genius to know she was referring to Ruby. Although, she didn’t even realise she had fallen that much for their team leader. Not until she kept having nightmares every night, not until she had lost her because of a stupid organisation they couldn’t figure out. Not until she said it herself in a rant.

Maybe she just loved her partner in a familial way or maybe she loved Ruby in a platonic way. But she found that those terms didn’t feel right and the only one that did was that she loved her partner in a romantic way. She had been denying her growing feelings but now, with Ruby gone and a feeling of loss in her heart, she couldn’t deny it.

Yang stayed staring at the white-haired girl. The shock still written on her face all but said she knew what Weiss meant. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to say something but couldn’t. It wasn’t until Weiss turned in her heel to leave that she snapped out of her shocked state.

“Weiss, wait.” She said, almost sounding desperate as she grabbed the Heiress’ wrist. 

The smaller girl didn’t try to take her hand back, she didn’t try to keep walking either. She let Yang grab her and keep her there as she knew that she could end up with a broken wrist. So she stood still and stayed turned away from her teammate.

“Weiss. I...I’ll try. I’ll try to make an effort to recover. I’ll stop being nasty and I’ll try to train and if I need help, I’ll ask instead of moping around. I...I’ll try to do my best so we can rescue Ruby.” Yang said, sounding so miserable and defeated that Weiss turned back around slightly. 

Weiss gave a small smile and slipped out of Yang’s unusual limp grip. “Get some sleep. I’ll be back tomorrow to help you train.” She said before leaving. 

She made her way back to the dorm room and soon found herself thinking of her partner. The feeling of loss and loneliness creeping into her heart again now that she was alone. She missed her partner. She felt empty without Ruby. Alone and scared. Just like she used to be before coming to Beacon. 

Weiss soon arrived back at the dorm room and did the laborious task of changing into her nightgown, brushing her teeth and brushing her hair out before climbing into Ruby’s bed.

She fell asleep, dreaming of a rose field. That is, until it turned into another nightmare of losing her partner over and over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eeeeeerm......hi.... xD   
> Just kidding.  
> This chapter was actually pretty easy to write considering I had writers block on chapter 18.   
> I hope you all enjoyed it and I’ll see you next time on Chapter 21. See you later guys and happy reading :)


	21. Resolve and Defiance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss tries to summon one of her fallen enemies but unbeknownst to her and Yang, what will entail will change her life, drastically.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Here’s the next chapter! I don’t actually no what to put for once.
> 
> Buuut I sort of do. As at least a couple of you know, I put up a voting thing to see what some readers would like in the next chapter. It was either another Yang and Weiss chapter of a look into Ruby’s new life as brainwashed ‘reprocessed’ soldier called Crimson. I have to say, the reception for that on Discord and Wattpad were rather disappointing. And they choices came to a frickin draw. So, to remedy that problem, I simply wrote both chapters with Yang and Weiss’ being first.   
> So, enjoy the new chapter and happy reading!

Ten days after Ruby’s abduction

It was rather amazing, or not so much amazing, just wonderous how her father hadn’t called or messaged her or even made any sort of attempt to take her away from Beacon. He mostly got caught up in the many meetings he always attended instead of properly raising his own children. As it were, Weiss wasn’t particularly bothered as she got to spend more time training and figuring out where Ruby could be. Training helped when Yang was there training with her but at the moment, the blonde was there alone.

Unfortunately, no matter how much she trained, she still couldn’t summon. It was starting to make her think she was the first Schnee who couldn’t summon and that she would never become strong enough to rescue Ruby.   
At least Yang had slightly improved in her fighting style, but it still wasn’t good enough; she was still predictable in the movements she made and Weiss was always able to tell what the brawler would do next. That didn’t mean the alabaster girl could defeat her in a sparring match, much to her own chagrin.

Now Weiss was sat on her bed with her back against the wall and her knees pulled up to her chest, thinking about when her father would finally stop attending meetings and collect her from Beacon, never to see her friends again. He would most likely lock her up in her bedroom never to see another living soul again until it would be necessary for her to make public speeches, attend lavish balls or anything else her father wanted from her.

Like hell was she going back there. She couldn’t go yet. Or at all if she could help it. She wasn’t going back to that cold, lonely mansion her father called home. Beacon had become her home in past few months, the friends she’d made were more her family than her own; especially her own team. Well apart from Blake, she was a traitor and didn’t deserve to be a part of the team family. 

Even with all that in mind, her father would never listen to her and it would be inevitable that he would drag her back to Atlas with him, probably by the hair if he could.

‘No! I can’t think like that. I still need to train, I must become stronger and faster so no one will ever be taken or hurt because of my weaknesses. I need to find and rescue Ruby. I must stand up to him for once in my life. I must; for Ruby’s sake.’ The Heiress thought, looking up at nothing in particular from her lap, a renewed resolve and growing defiance beginning to shine in her eyes. 

She had to stand up to him or he would forever be controlling every aspect of her life. She’d lose friends. She’d lose Ruby. She couldn’t lose Ruby of all people. 

With her renewed resolve, she climbed off of her bed, changed into her combat outfit, grabbed Myrtenaster and headed out the door, armed and ready to train to become stronger and finally summon something so her friends or anyone else wouldn’t be injured or taken from her again.

Finally in the training arena, she immediately noticed Yang beating down a third year. The blonde was definitely improving if she could hold her own against someone with more combat experience.

Turning away, she began the process to summon. Concentrating as hard as she could in the noisy training arena, she took her usual, calm and collected stance; shoulders back, head up, left foot forward and rapier pointing to the ceiling. She then recalled what Winter had told her about summoning, how to begin the process of summoning.  
Keep perfect form, summon a glyph and think of her fallen enemies. Think of those that pushed her to her limits and made her the person she is to this day. 

A giant white glyph appeared on the ground, spinning slowly and chiming softly. She thought of her greatest enemy: a giant white knight she had fought before being allowed to attend Beacon. The Arma Gigas was huge when she’d been forced to fight it. It had tried to kill her like all Grimm do, it had almost succeeded but thankfully, she only had a jagged scar running down her left eye instead of missing her head. 

Closing her eyes, she thought long and hard about the fight, about how she’d fallen only to get back up with renewed determination to kill the giant knight. How she’d managed to weaken the Grimm enough to finally finish it off. 

As her memories flowed freely, the glyph on the ground spun faster, it’s soft chiming becoming louder as it span. 

The sound of the glyph caught everyone’s attention in the training arena. She didn’t notice everyone watching in anticipation as the glyph began to glow a brilliant white. 

Her efforts were for naught as her mind began to flit to images of her faunus partner. Her silver eyes turning red, her smile turning to a sneer and her face being covered with Grimm markings.

Weiss’ eyes snapped open at the images of her partner transforming into a Grimm. The glyph on the ground shattered instantly, blowing her back a few paces where she embarrassingly fell onto her behind. 

Yang immediately ran over and helped the white-haired girl up. 

“Thanks.” She muttered as her face burned red in embarrassment. 

“You’re welcome. But what happened? You were doing awesomely one minute and the next it shattered.” the blonde worriedly questioned.

Weiss sighed in defeat. She thought she could do it this time but every single time she tried, images of her partner took over and ultimately, it made her fail. 

“Every time I try to summon, it goes well at first but then I start seeing Ruby. I see her beginning to turn into a Grimm.” Weiss explained quietly so only Yang could hear her. She hoped.

“Well shit. But I’ll give you some advice, Weiss.” the blonde said, smiling a little at how the words rhymed. “Think that we’re gonna get to Ruby before she turns into a Grimm. We will get to her before then. No matter what, we’re gonna rescue her, even if it kills us. I know you can summon. I know you can do it.” She continued, patting the white-haired girl on the shoulder. 

“Thanks Yang. I needed that.” The Heiress said, smiling genuinely at the blonde who smiled back.

The blonde looked away momentarily, her eyes narrowing in concentration on a certain part of the combat training arena. Weiss was about to follow the blonde’s gaze only for her to be distracted by the squeeze of her shoulder.

“Don’t look right now. I think there’s someone here you don’t wanna see right now. And I think he saw what happened a minute ago.” The blonde said, lowering her voice so only Weiss could hear. 

“My father is here isn’t he?” The white-haired girl guessed, her smile falling instantly at the prospect of her father being there.

“Yep.” Yang replied instantly, still keeping her voice down. “Aaaand he’s walking over.”

The panic and fear that hadn’t bothered her since waking from a nightmare earlier that morning returned in full force. Her father was here. He was going to take her out of Beacon and imprison her in Atlas for good.

No, she couldn’t let him take her away now. Not until she and Yang rescued Ruby. But maybe, not even then would she return to Atlas willingly.

As her father neared, she slowly turned to face him, replacing the panicked look to one of a calm and emotionless one. 

“Father.” She bluntly greeted, forgoing the usual curtsy. A way to show her growing defiance against him.

“Weiss.” He replied in greeting, just as bluntly as her own. He noticed the slight change in her demeanour, the look of defiance in her eyes and the fact she hadn’t curtsied on his arrival. “Last time I checked, curtsying is a sign of good manners to your father in Atlas.” He added, an almost concealed glare in his eyes. But Weiss knew better and saw the look that no one else would have.

The Heiress looked around then, watching as everyone was being escorted out of the training arena so Jacques could freely speak to his daughter. 

A man in a black suit approached Yang from behind. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave. This matter is between Mr Schnee and Miss Schnee.”

“She stays.” Weiss said immediately, turning her head to look at the bodyguard. “She stays.” She repeated, looking back to her father.

“Weiss…” her father warned.

“No. She is my teammate and she stays. She is helping me with my summoning.” Weiss replied. It wasn’t a lie and it wasn’t the truth either. Yang had been trying to help her with summoning but the blonde still didn’t really understand how to help.

“Do you mean that ridiculously embarrassing attempt I saw five minutes ago?” Jacques sneered in response. “If this gutter slut was actually any help, you would not have failed. I thought you were talented enough to attend Beacon but I guess I was wrong. You are incompetent and too naive to think you can summon anything. I doubt you could even summon a cockroach let alone a Grimm.”

Before Weiss could respond, Yang stepped forwards. “Woah woah woah. It’s one thing to call me a gutter slut but it’s another to say Weiss isn’t talented. She’s one of the most talented people I know and I can guarantee she can summon something that’ll make you piss your pants.” 

“Prove it then. Show me you can summon. If you can, you can carry on this ridiculous dream of yours.” Jacques responded after a few moments of contemplating what Yang had said. “And you,” he said, barely giving the blonde a second look. “You speak to me like that again and I’ll make sure you never become a huntress.”

Yang went to step forward to square up to the older Schnee but was stopped by a delicate pale hand. “Don’t, it’s not worth it.” Weiss said, looking into reddening eyes.

“Fine.” Yang said, stepping back into her previous position whilst glaring at the older Schnee.

“Well? Are you going to prove to me you are worthy to attend this school or not?” Jacques said impatiently.

“Of course. Please step back.” Weiss said politely whilst internally dreading the inevitable outcome.

Both Yang and Jacques stepped away, albeit in opposite directions, so Weiss could try to summon again.

Taking a deep breath to compose herself, she began the steps to summoning once more. Head up, shoulders back, left foot forwards and Myrtenaster pointing to the ceiling and summon a glyph. She took another deep breath to calm her growing nerves before moving onto the next steps again as another large glyph formed and began chiming softly.  
Think of her greatest fallen foe, the one that made her who she is to this day and imagine them coming to her side to fight for her and defend her. Think of how they made her feel and how she fought against them.

Memories of her fight with the Arma Gigas once again flowed through her mind. Almost being killed, being injured and having a scar to prove her determination in that battle and she standing back up and killing the giant knight.

The large glyph began to spin faster and faster, its chiming steadily getting louder. The white-haired girl thought more and more of different enemies she’d fought against, each one falling to their deaths. 

Yang watched in awe as the large glyph on the floor began to glow brightly once more. She snuck a look at the alabaster girl’s father and only saw an apathetic look on his face.

Weiss continued to think of her fallen foes but soon enough, her mind began to drift towards her partner slowly turning into a Grimm. This time, she fought back against the images, now thinking that she’d get to Ruby before anything like that happened. That she’d rescue Ruby before she turned into a Grimm. 

It seemed her mind wanted to fight against and only made the images worse by including the death of Yang at the hands of her partner. She tried to push the images away.

The next image was of her, lying dead in the middle of a forest with Ruby standing over her with a sadistic look on her face and Crescent Rose covered in blood. Her blood.

Weiss’ eyes finally snapped open at the last image, the glyph exploding instead of shattering and sending her into the far arena wall. She yelped as she hit the wall and fell to the ground. 

Yang immediately ran over to her. “Weiss!” She shouted in concern as she slid to a stop next to the Heiress. “What happened? That was more violent than any other time.”

Groaning, Weiss looked up and held her head with one hand whilst holding her side with the other. “You can say that again. I did what you said and it was working but then I saw myself. I was dead in a forest with...with Ruby standing over me. She...she’d killed me, Yang.” Weiss began to sob, the images still fresh in her mind.

Weiss had clearly forgotten her father was there, watching her every move. The aforementioned man cleared his throat loudly, making his presence known again.

The white-haired girl looked up in surprise and silently scolded herself for forgetting he was here. Wiping her tears away, she tried to stand, only to fall back down in pain. She’d definitely done something to her back.

“That was immensely disappointing and embarrassing. You are an embarrassment to the Schnee family name. You will no longer attend this school and you will be going back to Atlas with me. You will cut all contact with these friends you apparently have and you will make new friends of higher standards in Atlas.” Jacques Schnee sneered, his voice dripping with unrelenting venom as he approached the two girls.

Yang helped the white-haired girl stand and leaned her against the wall, making sure she was steady before facing Jacques.   
“You wouldn’t know what friends were even if you fell over them backwards. Weiss is staying here to become a huntress. It’s what she wants to do and you can’t say otherwise!” Yang said, her voice rising in volume as she spoke.

“Who are you to tell me what I can and cannot do with my own daughter! You are nothing but a lowly piece of garbage that dresses like a disgusting slut with nothing to your name! She is coming with me. Now!” Jacques roared, his temper flaring out of control. 

The blonde stepped forward, her own temper flaring, her usual lilac now crimson red the evidence of her rage.

“Yang. Don’t. It’s not worth it. I’ve said myself, no matter what, I’m not going back there until we find Ruby. Even then, I won’t go back willingly.” Weiss said, pushing herself off of the wall and standing between Yang and her father.

“You will come back to Atlas with me or else-“

“Or else what, Father? You’ll drag me back by my hair and lock me up in my room like some sort of trophy? I won’t go back. I’m not going back.” The younger Schnee interrupted, the defiance she’d felt that evening returning bit by bit.

“Excuse me! You will whether you like it or not, girl.” The older Schnee roared once more, obviously trying to intimidate Weiss into doing what he wanted.

It wouldn’t work this time. She was dead set on staying in Beacon. Dead set on training to become stronger and more determined than ever to find and rescue Ruby. This time, she wouldn’t let her father intimidate her and would stand up to him no matter what.

“NO! I. Am. Staying. Here!” She yelled back. 

Her mistake was thinking that her father wouldn’t grab her by the hair and drag her away. She was wrong as the older Schnee snapped his hand up to her hair and grabbed it. He began to yank on it to make her move.

Yang immediately sprung into action but was stopped when Weiss held her hand out, signifying that she had to do this on her own. The blonde watched as Weiss struggled against her father’s grip, yelping in pain when he pulled harder. 

“Father, stop! I’m not going with you!” 

He didn’t stop and just continued to drag her across the training arena floor by her stark white locks. 

“Be quiet you incompetent little cow. You are coming home with me. Willingly or not!” He yelled, shocking Weiss that he cursed. As small as it was, her father never used curse words.

The shock soon wore off as the pain of her hair being violently pulled brought her back to the situation at hand. 

‘Think calmly, Weiss. It’s the only way to get out of this!’ She thought to herself, determined to get out of her father’s grip.   
‘Myrtenaster.’ She thought but was disappointed to find she’d dropped her weapon when she’d painfully hit the wall. 

Instead of trying to figure out how to use her glyphs to stop her father, she simply grabbed his wrist and pressed into the pressure point. It didn’t do much but was good enough for her to get Jacques to stop in his tracks. He turned to her, rage filling his eyes. He was ready to explode again. 

She wouldn’t let him. Not again.

With that in mind, and with her father now stood still, she swung her right fist as hard as she could at her father’s jaw.   
A couple of cracks and snaps echoed off the walls of the training arena; Jacques' jaw was now broken but so were Weiss’ knuckles.

That’ll shut him up for a while. Or so she thought.

“Why you little-“ the older Schnee began but abruptly stopped when pain seated through his face. 

Instead, he made to grab the alabaster girl again but she used a speed glyph to move out of the way and grabbed Myrtenaster from the far wall.

Walking back to her father but staying a few metres away from him, she pointed the tip of her rapier at him. 

“I am staying here.” She simply declared and turned away to walk back to Yang who was looking at her proudly.

That was another mistake on her part as her father lunged at her again. 

But this time, a large stark white glyph appeared between them; spinning quickly and glowing brilliantly. 

Weiss didn’t see what was happening as she continued walking but as she saw Yang’s jaw hit the ground in astonishment, she turned back around and was met with something that filled her with excitement and pride.

Standing tall and proud was the one thing she had been trying to summon. It was the giant white knight she’d defeated months ago. He was huge. Unfortunately she couldn’t see her father’s face but when he screamed, she ran around the giant soldier and saw crimson red liquid flowing out of a brand new stump it had created out of her father’s hand.

Her summon had not only summoned but had protected her, albeit, aggressively. Her father crumpled to the floor in agony, desperately holding onto his bleeding stump. Weiss thought she’d never see the day her father cried. 

“Well, that’s handy.” She muttered, unaware that Yang had followed her and stood next to her.

The blonde immediately burst out laughing. “Oh my gods, Weiss! That’s a good one!” She bellowed through fits of laughter.

Surprised that Yang was next to her, she immediately realised how insensitive the joke was considering her own teammate not long ago lost half of her arm.

“Oh my gods Yang, I’m so sorry. That was insensitive of me!” Weiss apologises, beginning to panic.   
The blonde brawler only laughed harder, clutching her stomach from the laughter. It was actually starting to scare Weiss. It wasn’t that funny.

“It...it’s okay. I don’t mind. It’s not like it was dig at me anyway!” Yang replied after calming down from her laughing fit.

Weiss looked at her teammate in confusion. “How is it okay?” She inquired as calmly as she could.

“Because… look. Your summon protected you and chopped his hand off. The fact that you made a joke about the bastard that’s caused you so much trouble over the years. Come on, it’s hilarious!” Yang explained, shouting good naturedly to get her point across.

Weiss thought about it for a moment before finally breaking out into a smile and chuckling. “I think you’re right. But, as funny as it is, we can’t let him bleed out.” Weiss states, her smile falling slightly.

“Uuugh can’t we just leave him here and let someone else deal with him?” Yang asked, earning an unamused look from the white-haired girl. “Take that as a no.”

With that said, both girls walked quickly towards the older Schnee who, by the way, was sobbing like a child. It only amused Yang even more. Even Weiss couldn’t help but find it amusing if not a little weird to see her father displaying another emotion other than anger.

“Father, I need to see the wound so I can patch it up.” the white-haired girl ordered. Her father wasn’t having it though as he immediately lashed out at the Heiress.

“GET AWAY! DON'T TOUCH ME!” He yelled, still sobbing and clearly in too much pain from his hand to even feel the pain in his broken jaw.

“Father! I need to dress the wound or you’ll bleed to death!” She yelled back, catching his clumsily thrown fist and shoving it towards Yang. “Hold him still so I can take a look at it.”

The blonde did as told and held the older Schnee as best she could because as soon as she grabbed his good arm, he began to flail about. 

Weiss immediately got to work, ripping some of her dress off to use a makeshift bandage. She then grabbed Myrtenaster and held her father’s bleeding arm. She couldn’t miss otherwise she’d end up freezing him entirely and that would not be good. 

“YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME WEISS! YOU ARE A FUCKING DISAPPOINTMENT! GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF ME!” He yelled, trying to break out of Yang's hold to move away.

The white-haired girl just ignored him and continued trying to dress the wound. He was moving far too much for her to use ice dust on the wound just like she had with Yang’s arm.   
“Yang, keep him still. I can’t work on it if he’s moving so much!” She yelled in frustration.

“Sorry I can’t stop every movement.” Yang replied, also becoming frustrated with the flailing, yelling madman.

“Sit on him if you have to!” Weiss suggested but before she could take it back, Yang pushed Jacques down and sat on his chest and arms, actually being mindful of his injury.

Even if Weiss wanted to take back the suggestion, it stopped her father from moving. So, she aimed Myrtenaster at his stump again, first making sure it was the ice dust cylinder, and shot ice onto the bleeding stump. Then she quickly but meticulously wrapped it up in the makeshift bandage.   
“Yang, I’m done. You can get up now.” Weiss said, moving away from the still sobbing man that was her father.

“Should I like, go and get his bodyguards or something?” The blonde asked as she stood up and moved to stand next to Weiss.

“No, I will.” The alabaster girl said, making a move towards the training arena door.

Opening it, she saw half a dozen black suited bodyguards waiting to go back in to escort her father out.

“Are we going now, Miss?” One of them asked.

“No. My father has been injured and needs urgent medical care.” She replied, putting on the usual Schnee scowl.

Instantly after she delivered the news, the bodyguards moved quickly into the training arena. They were at her father’s side in no time.

Weiss followed them in and was shocked to find that her summoned giant knight still hadn’t disappeared yet. Although, he’d shrunk to a more ‘human’ size. 

Weiss smiled but it fell immediately as her father continued screaming. His next words weren’t exactly pleasant but they didn’t surprise her.

“YOU ARE NO LONGER MY HEIR! YOU CAN ROT WITH THE REST OF THESE MONGRELS YOU EMBARRASSMENT...!” His voice grew quieter as he was dragged out of the arena. Quieter wasn’t really the word to use as Yang and Weiss could still hear him in the hall.

Yang laughed slightly as she spoke. “What a loser.” 

The former-heiress smiled a little but then remembered that her knuckles had made an awful sound when she’d punched her father. 

“Should probably go and get my hand looked at. I think I may have broken my knuckles and it's really starting to hurt.” Weiss said, changing the subject instantly.

“Ooohhh yeaaah. That punch was frickin’ awesome!” Yang exclaimed in excitement after recalling the moment she’d been so proud of Weiss for. 

Sighing, Weiss made her own way out of the arena, dispelling the white knight as she went.  
Yang soon followed after and they both made their way to the infirmary, idly chatting to keep Weiss’ mind off of her probably broken hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope that wasn’t too over the top but IN YOUR FACE JACKASS. I also hope no one takes offence to the ‘thats handy’ joke. I know it’s insensitive but I saw the opportunity and took.   
> On another note, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and I’ll see you in like ten minutes for Chapter 22: Crimson.  
> Also, Happy Reading!


	22. Crimson

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A look into the new life of a brainwashed, violent Ruby.   
> A new life, a new name and more violence ensues as Ruby’s patience is pushed to its limit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo, here’s the Ruby chapter. Probably just as over board as the previous chapter but I don’t actually care. 
> 
> Also, I haven’t a clue what to put this time around. So, I’ll leave you guys to your reading. I also forgot to mention that the previous chapter is over 4000 words long. And so is this one. Don’t ask, I just kept writing and it turned out pretty long.   
> Anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter and I’ll see you all at the end. Happy reading! :)

6 weeks after Ruby’s abduction

It hadn’t been long since she’d woken up, the sounds of chatter waking her from her restless slumber. If that’s what you could call it. The young Reaper didn’t feel rested at all, the after effects of the ‘medication’ they’d been giving her so she could get back to full strength.

That’s what they’d told her, along with the information that she’d been severely injured whilst on a mission and that’s why she couldn’t remember much. She didn’t even know her name when she’d first woken up in a fancy-looking bed a few weeks back.

Now, she knew her name as Crimson, she was almost sixteen years old and she was a part of a programme to create ‘super soldiers’ that would eventually fight in an upcoming war. The two other things she knew was that her life currently consisted of training and the SS Programme. But for some reason, her superiors weren’t letting her train with a proper weapon, no bladed weapon that is. They allowed her to train in hand-to-hand combat as well as in a shooting range with a Heckler and Koch P30 handgun. It was boring and didn’t do as much damage as she’d like. But, it was still training and she loved it.

Speaking of training, or rather thinking of it, the young Reaper needed to get up and figure out where her weapons instructor is so she could begin today’s training routine. Although, she could skip today and lay in bed all day and think about what she’d already learned. 

No, she couldn’t do that. Her superiors would most likely punish her for skipping. She’d made that mistake a week ago and found that her superiors were ruthless towards those that slacked off. She was not having a repeat of that thank you very much.

So, with that in mind, the young Reaper finally opened her bleary red eyes and got up. She found her usual training attire, for dresses in them, brushed her hair and headed towards the dining hall.

When she got there, she found there wasn’t a free seat anywhere, the queue to get breakfast was ridiculously long. She couldn’t wait that long for food and then there was finding a seat. 

‘Ugh, fucking newbies getting in the way every fucking day. I’ll fucking teach them not to get food first.’ the Young Reaper thought, sending a glare towards all of the newest members of the SS programme. 

Every single day for the past week, the newbies of the programme had taken it upon themselves to get their food first. They’d basically taken over the dining hall and Crimson hated it. Their superiors didn’t do fuck all to stop them and usually let them do what they wanted in their free time where as the red-tipped girl was put on a tight leash; always training and not able to do anything she wanted to.

To say she was getting frustrated with it all would be an understatement; she was absolutely livid and it had to stop. The young Reaper wasn’t going to stand for being pushed to the back of the queue, she wasn’t going to stand for having nowhere to sit in the dining hall and she most definitely wasn’t going to stand for the newbies getting away with everything.

Watching a few of the newbies cut in the queue in front of people that had been here longer than even Crimson, the young Reaper finally snapped. She marched up to the queue cutting newbies, pushing anyone that was in her path out of the way. A few threw her dirty looks as she passed, she only glared in response, making them look away instantly.

Finally stopping in front of the newbies, she glared murderously at them until one of them noticed her. The young blonde boy recognised her almost immediately, her reputation proceeding her, as usual. The young boy subtly nudged one of his queue cutting friends, silencing his chatter with the other two they were with. 

His facial expression immediately dropped to one of emotionlessness. He either knew who she was or he didn’t, the young Reaper couldn’t tell as he made no expression whether he did or not. 

“Who the hell are you and what the hell do you want?” He asked, clearly faking the fact that he did know who she was. 

The young Reaper continued to glare murderously, staying silent and hoping just the look in her eyes would be enough to convey her anger.

The boy evidently didn’t understand as he huffed and turned away, immediately angering the young Reaper further. So much so, that in an instant, the boy was laying down on top of a table: The red-tipped girl’s movements too fast for anyone to catch. The entire dining room stopped and stared in silence, wondering what was going on.

“Don’t turn your back on me you pathetic little worm.” The young Reaper sneered, tightly holding onto the boy’s throat. “Everyone is hungry at this time of morning so what makes you think you can cut into the queue!?” She growled, tightening her grip further and throwing a death glare at the boy’s friends so they wouldn’t try to intervene.

The boy under her iron grip began to turn blue as the young Reaper continued to strangle him. She lifted him up ever so slightly and forcefully pushed him back down, the boy’s head thudding painfully against the table underneath him.

Letting go and standing up straight, she turned to the room of mostly newly recruited members of the SS Programme, throwing a warning glare towards them before she spoke again. 

“All you newbies think you’re fucking entitled to things before we are! There’s people here that have been here longer than you and train harder than you every day. You pathetic little bastards probably haven’t even had the first proper dose of the SS medication. You should be the last to get food, the last to use the showers and you shouldn’t have so much free time! You should be fucking training like the rest of us!” The young Reaper yelled, eyeing everyone in the dining hall. 

“What makes you think we’re gonna listen to you, Crimson?” The boy she’d been strangling spoke up, his throat already healed from being strangled. “We call dibs on everything because we’re the first to get out of bed!” The boy yelled, squaring up to the young Reaper.

“Oh so you do know who I am. And just because you’re all awake earlier doesn’t mean you can call dibs on shit. You’re new here and you need to learn to respect your superiors, worm!” She yelled back, her temper flaring mid sentence.

“Like hell we are! Last time I checked you’re in the bottom tier for superiority! You don’t have any authority over us and we can do what we like!” 

“Can you now?” The red-tipped girl said threateningly. “Well so can I.” She stated as she plunged a clawed hand into the boy’s stomach. 

The boy’s eyes widened in shock as blood began to pour out of the new wound. As the boy coughed, crimson red liquid splattered across the young Reaper’s face; she smiled sadistically. 

She loved the sight of blood, she revelled in hurting others and watching them squirm in pain was just a bonus. Something that Ruby Rose would never love to do.

But this girl was not Ruby Rose. This girl was not the young wolf faunus that had been offered a place into Beacon Academy. This girl was not the young Reaper that had taken out a Nevermore with just one blow. This girl was a nightmare and she was called Crimson. Her name stemming from the amount of times she’d killed someone in the facility since she first woke up. It wasn’t the colour of her clothing, and it wasn’t the colouring of the tips of her hair. It was the fact she loved the sight of the crimson liquid all beings held within their bodies. 

This girl was not Ruby Rose and she was only so low in the chain of authority because of the fact that she kept killing people she didn’t like. The reason why she was on such a tight leash. 

Ruby Rose wouldn’t kill a child. She was too soft. Crimson didn’t have any qualms about killing an innocent man, woman or child. She wanted to kill and the feeling only grew stronger when someone pissed her off. But as much as she was Crimson, small amounts of Ruby Rose still stuck to her like glue.

Unbeknownst to the young Reaper, she was being watched from the far corner of the dining room by none other than the Minotaur and Blake as she ripped her hand out of the boy’s stomach and plunged it back in, in a different place. 

The pair watched as the young Reaper slaughtered the young boy in front of everyone. No one wanted to pull her away from him, no one wanted to be killed like the boy.   
The red-tipped girl had definitely lost her mind and they both knew that their superiors weren’t going to be as kind to her as they had been. They would most likely mark her as a failure and kill her. It was such a shame that a strong, powerful individual would be killed because of what she was created to do. Well, that’s what the newbies thought. Most of the higher ups usually rewarded savage behaviour but one did not. The Master usually punished and then rewarded them. 

Crimson looked around for her next target after dropping the now dead boy but before she could kill anyone else, Blake left a shadow behind and intervened; stopping the blood splattered girl in her tracts.

“That’s enough, Crimson. You’ve proved your point.” The cat faunus said sternly, her facial expression was one of emotionlessness. 

Crimson growled low but didn’t make any move to try and slaughter the older faunus in front her. She didn’t know the cat faunus as Blake, she only knew her as Black Cat and she knew that the older girl had more authority than she let on. 

But that authority wouldn’t stop her from growling at the older girl and was surprised to find her cheek stinging from where the older girl had slapped her. 

It was clear that Crimson had been trapped in her own mind again, the Grimm energy she absorbed daily along with the ‘medication’ she had was beginning to crack her psyche. She looked around and saw everyone staring wide-eyed. Then she looked around to the faunus in front of her and then down towards the body of the boy she’d killed.

Before she could start to freak out, Blake grabbed her in an iron grip by the arm and dragged her out of the dining hall and towards a washroom.

That is until the speakers around the facility crackled to life as a voice spoke over the tannoy. “Crimson and Black Cat to the Master’s office. I repeat, Crimson and Black Cat to the Master’s office.”

They changed course and headed back towards the dining but didn’t go in. Blake had to tighten her grip on the younger girl's arm as they hurried to the designated office.

The young Reaper could only guess what the Master had in store for her. Either she was going to be punished severely by being beaten or this time, she was actually going to die. Which was much more severe than any bearing.

Arriving sooner rather than later, Blake rapped her knuckles on the oak door, keeping ahold of Crimson’s arm. If she didn’t die today, she’d definitely have a bruise where Blake was holding her.

A bored but authoritive ‘Enter’ sounded from behind the oak door. Blake pushed the door open and dragged the young Reaper inside and let go once the door was shut.

The office was rather bare and bland for Crimson’s taste but that was what the Master was like. Boring, bland but still intimidating. 

“Crimson.” Jacques Schnee said from behind his desk, clearly not in the mood for beating around the bush. 

“Yes Sir?” She replied, trying her best to not sound scared of what might happen to her and immediately noticed a brand new prosthetic hand connected to his right arm.

“Can you explain to me what happened in the dining hall this morning?” Jacques questioned, not bothering to look up from his paperwork as he spoke.

The young Reaper began to fiddle with her hands behind her back. She might not be Ruby Rose anymore but some things never change, whether or not you’ve forgotten things.

Noticing the nervous fidgeting, Blake grabbed the younger girls arm again, stilling the fidgeting hands. Crimson looked to the older faunus and found a glare in place, a warning to stop being a prat and get on with it.

“Well? I won’t ask again.” Jacques said, getting impatient after hearing no response for the past few minutes.

“I...I don’t actually remember, Sir.” She answered. She did remember what she’d done. But she didn’t want to be killed, she wanted to live and fight in the upcoming war. 

The man in front of her saw right through the blatant lie. “Black Cat, break her right hand.” He stated, still not looking up from his paperwork as he spoke.

“Yes, Sir.” The older faunus obediently replies, forcefully pulling the younger girl’s hand out.

“Wai-“ Crimson tried before the room was enveloped with the sound of many small bones breaking. She screamed as not just her hand was broken but several fingers were too. 

“I’ll ask one more time, Crimson. What happened in the dining hall this morning?” This time, icy blue looked up to see crimson red eyes filling with tears. But they weren’t normal watery tears. 

The young Reaper gritted her teeth as she replied. “I killed one of the new programme members.”

“Why?” Came the immediate reply.

The red-tipped girl knew not to keep the Master waiting for a response so she answered as best she could whilst her hand seared with pain.  
“I...I was sick and tired of the new members always cutting the dining hall queue and getting to use the showers before everyone else that’s been here longer.”

“Is this true Blake?” Jacques asked, turning his gaze to the cat faunus.

The name confused the younger girl. She thought the cat faunus was called Black Cat. She would have to think about that later and maybe ask her some questions. That’s if she were to be alive by then.

“It is, yes. The new programme members have been getting away with far too much and they won’t listen to anyone. They aren’t punished for the things they do either.” Blake responded, almost sounding like an emotionless robot.

“I see.” Was the simple reply.

After that, the room fell into an uncomfortable silence. Anxiety starting to gnaw at the younger girl. 

Five more minutes past before Jacques spoke again, now decided on a suitable punishment for the young Reaper.   
“Blake, break her other hand and then take her to the weapons room.”

This time, the young Reaper willingly gave the older faunus her hand and braced herself for the pain. Her other hand had already begun to heal thanks to the Grimm energy flowing through her.

The sound of snapping bones and the scream Crimson let out emanated throughout the office and probably down the stark white halls.

It seemed that bracing herself for the pain was a bad idea. It didn’t help one bit as it hurt much more than her other hand did. 

With that, Blake opened the door of the office and walked out, grabbing the younger girl’s better hand on the way out. Shutting the door, Blake let go of her arm and they both made their way to the weapons room.

Excitement began to bubble to the surface of the younger girl’s mind, the pain from her hands being overridden by it. She kept the excitement to herself as they made their way to the correct room. The older faunus wasn’t much for talking let alone sharing any positivity towards new things.

As they strolled through the stark white halls of the facility, curiosity of the cat faunus emerged. The question the younger girl wanted to ask staying on the top of her tongue and on the forefront of her mind.

She gave up trying to fight the curiosity. “Why did he call you Blake?” She asked.

“Because that’s my name.” Came the blunt reply.

“I thought your name was Black Cat?” 

“That’s my alias for missions.” Came the next blunt reply.

“Do I have another name?” Crimson asked, letting out some of her excitement from before.

The cat faunus huffed in annoyance. “No, you don’t. Your name is just Crimson and that’s all it’s ever been and all it will ever be. Now stop asking useless questions and keep moving.” 

At that, the young Reaper fell silent, a look of disappointment adorning her face. That is until they arrived at the weapons room.  
All sorts of weapons resided in here. From regular swords to guns that fired pure dust bullets. 

Considering Crimson wasn’t Ruby Rose, they both still had an obsession with weapons.   
Her red eyes sparkled at the sight of the different weapons in the room. Long swords, short swords, bastard swords, throwing knives, daggers, machetes, sniper rifles, sub machine guns, semi automatic pistols and many more. But one, out of every single weapon in the room, caught her sparkling red eyes.

It was a very dangerous-looking scythe. 

The young Reaper looked to Blake for permission to take a closer look and she could’ve sworn she saw a small smile pulling at the cat faunus’ lips, but just as fast as it had appeared it was gone. It made Crimson think that she had hallucinated it.

Blake slightly nodded, giving the red-tipped Reaper silent permission to take a closer look. She practically ran to it and reached out to take it off its stand before hesitating.

“You can pick it up if you like. It is your weapon after all.” A woman in a black, grimy apron said, making the young faunus look around in surprise.

“This is my weapon?” She asked disbelievingly.

The woman nodded and smiled before walking over and taking the scythe off its stand. She handed it to Crimson, who carefully grabbed it.

“Why is this my weapon?” She inquired, looking from the weapon to the women with curious eyes.

“I heard that before your accident, you had a scythe but it got destroyed. So, I created a new one for you, albeit it’s not as technological as your old one.” The woman replied, smiling sadly.

“Awesome! What’s it do?” The young faunus asked excitedly, looking over the smaller scythe in awe.

“Well, I’d say it does a lot more than your old scythe. You see this here?” The woman said, pointing to what looked like a compartment of some sort. The younger girl nodded. “Well, if you put one of your fingers on that little button here…” she said, directing one of the Crimson’s fingers to a small square button on the shaft of the scythe.

Immediately, the compartment opened, a small door sliding into the shaft, revealing a brand new, black matte coloured handgun. It was the same as the one she usually used but it also looked slightly upgraded. 

“That’s a Heckler and Koch P30! It uses 9 by 19mm Parabellum rounds. I use one in training. But this one looks like it could fire dust rounds too!” Crimson said, her excitement bubbling up even more.

It made the woman smile. “This one does fire dust rounds. Do you want to know the best feature of the scythe?” She inquired, eyeing a particular part of the weapon.

“Of course I do!” The young girl replied.

“Put your finger on this button here. This one you have to press.” She instructed, pointing to another button on the shaft.

Instantly, the young Reaper did as told and pressed the button. Almost immediately, the blade of the scythe began to glow a warm red colour, signifying the use of fire dust. 

“The fire dust that’s used in it is much more potent than what it normally is so you must be careful. The more you press the button, the more dust you use but I must warn you. If you use too much, you’ll melt the blade but other than that, the blade is fire resistant and doesn’t melt up to two or three hundred degrees.” The woman explained, smiling again as she watched the young faunus swing the blade around. 

As she swung the blade, small amounts of fire dust came away from the blade. She pressed the button as she swung it again, more dust fell away from the blade, burning whatever it touched.   
The young Reaper pressed the button two more times and was awestruck as the blade set itself on fire. It looked incredibly dangerous, kinda like an inferno dancing on the blade.

The blade itself was red whilst the shaft fell into an orangey yellow. The younger girl knew the perfect name for it. 

“I’m gonna call it Infernal Rose. It looks like it could burn and cut through anything. Plus it kinda reminds me of the thorns on a rose and I like roses.” Crimson said, continuing to clumsily swing the deadly weapon around. 

“Indeed. A rose has its thorns much like you.” The woman said rather cryptically. The younger girl didn’t have a clue what the woman meant by that so she just ignored it and continued playing with the bladed weapon.

After a few more moments, she stopped and stared at the burning blade. Amazingly, it was still on fire. Then something dawned on her.

Turning to the woman with a sheepish grin she asked, “Er how do get the blade to stop burning?” 

The woman chuckled and replied. “Simply press the same button twice in quick succession. It’ll still be on fire for a few moments and must be careful not to burn yourself on it. It’ll still be hot.”

With that, Crimson quickly pressed the same button but the inferno on the blade continued for a few seconds more before extinguishing itself. 

“That is so awesome!” The young Reaper exclaimed, her excitement finally at its peak.

“It is and now this weapon is yours. Look after it and any maintenance you need on it, bring it back to me.” The woman said, smiling as she went back to what she was doing beforehand.

Crimson turned to find Blake still stood in the same position when they first got there. She looked to be thinking about something but as soon as she noticed the younger faunus’ red eyes looking her way, she straightened up and motioned for Crimson to follow her. 

She did and they made their way to the large training room that was underground. 

“There’s someone that will teach you how to use your new weapon. I’m sure your muscle memory will help in the matter.” Blake said and walked off, leaving Crimson outside of the training room. 

“Crimson, I’m guessing you’re going to train with your new weapon today?” A man asked, carrying a much larger scythe. His balding scarred head and dull green eyes told of many battles he’d fought in. He looked to know how to fight with a scythe and that just made Crimson much more excited.

“Yeah I am. I finally got my weapon and I can’t wait to train with it!” She said, her excitement earning her a small smile from the man.

“Well let’s get started then.” He simply said and gestured towards the middle of the training room.

Even after having her memories taken again and being told things that weren’t true about herself, the Crimson Reaper was still in some ways an echo of old self. Small parts of her were still Ruby Rose. The excitement and obsession for weapons. Acting like a puppy when she was excited. But, if you pissed her off, she became what people feared most. 

A monster of darkness, chaos and hatred. Something that murdered anyone and everyone in her sights. Whether it be man, woman or child. That’s when she became the true Crimson Reaper. Exactly what Jacques Schnee wanted her to become. A mindless killing machine devoid of complex emotions and feelings but with at least some intelligence. 

Rue the day when he’d finally get what he wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeaaaah. Ruby’s a murderous little bitch. Probably shouldn’t say that because she’s a wolf faunus and female dogs/wolves are called bitches. Oops xD  
> Anyways, I really hope you all enjoyed that chapter but poor Ruby getting her hands broken but at least she got a new weapon :D  
> If you wanna see the new weapon/s then go onto my tumblr and you’ll find it there. It’s drawing isn’t as good as you’d think for the scythe but H&K P30 drawing is one of my best pieces of art! 
> 
> Also, I’d like to give everyone on here, Wattpad, tumblr and the discord server a chance to place a vote for the next chapter.   
> It’s between: Yang/Weiss, Ruby or a small look at what Blake’s been doing as of late. Choose wisely and please do vote in the comments. Don’t leave me hangin’  
> Anyways,  
> Thanks for reading guys, I hope you enjoyed it and happy reading! :)


	23. Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One of Weiss’ nightmares she’s been having since Ruby abduction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is more of a filler chapter until I figure what the hell I’m doing with the story. I’m stuck with it and I can’t seem to get out of writers block. Thankfully I had Pookie to write over half of this chapter. So thank you bro!  
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy and happy reading! :)
> 
> Word count is 2699

Evening was fast approaching and the sun was setting, it's warm golden glow retreating behind the sharp edges of dying leaves, their shrivelled corpses rattled like bones in the gentle breeze, stems clinging to haggard appendages with the last vestiges of life.   
Looming trees eclipsed the majority of the waning light, tall and imposing. The towering black forms far more intimidating in the encroaching darkness. Their cunning shadows slithered across the leaf strewn ground of the forest, darkening the barely trodden path in front of Weiss. 

The forest around her was deathly silent now, no birds singing their cheerful songs amongst the branches. They were wise to flee the vicinity when then there were Grimm stalking the forest. The only sound left was the crisp crunch of dead leaves beneath her feet as she paced carefully toward the cave face she'd seen earlier atop the Nevermore. If Weiss had noticed it, surely Ruby must have too.

The cave was dark, as was to be expected, and her dust torch only lit a few feet around her being.  
It felt like she'd been walking for hours, the winding tunnel seemingly endless. By the time she finally reached the end it was surely midnight, but time was impossible to tell this far in, her surroundings were pitch-black.

Weiss, about to turn back, hopeless at finding nothing, when a tiny whisper of a noise reached her left ear. She swiftly turns in that direction, holding the artificial torch up to the cave wall.  
There, low on the wall and easy to miss was a narrow hole, just big enough to fit a small person. Someone like Ruby.   
Squeezing through was an uncomfortable endeavor, the rough stone sides scraped against her previously pristine dress, but she was the same height as her companion with these heeled boots on - and shorter without - so she made it to the other side of the passage with little more than a few scratch and barely noticeable tears in her outfit.

On the other side of the tunnel sat a relatively small chamber. And as Weiss illuminated the space, she heard the same noise again, this time originating from the corner of the room.  
A muffled whimper escaped the curled figure, knees pulled up to the chest and cloaked arms wrapped tightly around them. The person's face was buried in their knees, but it wasn't enough to stop the choked sobs from forcing their way out. Atop the head sat a pair of unnatural ears, they twitched at noises Weiss couldn't hear but the figure was far too wrapped up in their own emotions to pay them any mind.

She hesitated, but cautiously took a step closer.

"Ruby?" Weiss' voice was soft so as to not startle the distressed faunus, however, the word echoed throughout the chamber nonetheless.

Ruby startled, her head shot up suddenly at the unexpected intrusion. She stuttered out through a sob, "W-Weiss?"

"Yeah, Ruby, it's me." Her words were gentle, still. The other girl's flight or fight response was easy to trigger in this state, and at the moment Weiss was blocking the only exit the faunus could flee from.  
"What's wrong?"

Ruby opened her mouth to reply but no words came out. Instead, as her lips parted, a sorrowful whimper escaped and her face crumpled. Fresh tears fell from silver eyes and that's all it took for Weiss to abandon all sense of caution and rush toward the younger girl. She fell to her knees before the distraught girl, the bottom of her dress no longer white but she didn't care. What mattered was Ruby, and that's all. 

As Weiss embraced her, pushing Ruby's face, wet with tears, into her shoulder, she ponders that perhaps this is how she's felt for a long time.  
That despite their differences, and their quarrels, Ruby has been there when it mattered the most. She was there when to listen when Weiss needed an ear, she concocted the majority of the plan to confront the Minotaur.

The feelings she experiences around the other girl, new and unexpected. Ruby's rare smiles that send the butterflies in her stomach frantic, the cute tilt of her head and twitch of her ears when she's confused. Her endearing, clumsy attempts at returning affection. The ferocity and passion she displays in combat, her interminable loyalty when trust finally gained.They hated each other when they met but now...Weiss wonders if that was ever true to begin with, for herself, at least. 

The complicated faunus seamlessly slides into her waking thoughts frequently, and graces her dreams without her control. Ruby is all she thinks about these days, especially now, now that she's gone...

But she isn't gone. Ruby is right here in her arms, and she'll be damned if she ever lets her go again.

The faunus had finally stilled, her shoulders no longer shaking and whimpers all but stopped. Unknowingly, Weiss' hands have been carding through black locks, comforting the other girl. It seems to have worked.

A few moments of silence pass as the girls sit in each other's embrace.   
The change is slow, almost imperceptible; but Weiss notices when Ruby begins to tense in her arms again.  
Weiss shifts, "Ruby?" She asks, confusion and concern etched onto her face.

The young Reaper's shoulders begin shaking again, another wave of sorrow, Weiss thinks, and she's prepared for it.  
Except, she isn't. Not for this, because the sound coming out of Ruby's mouth is nothing like the heartbreaking sobs from only a few minutes ago. No, this is more like...she strains her ears to hear the noise better. It's quiet, but beginning to increase in volume and it almost sounds like Ruby is...laughing?   
A deep guttural chuckle that no fifteen year old girl should be able to produce, and it's unsettling.

"Ruby?" Weiss asks again, there's a tremor in her voice that wasn't there before.

The chuckling stops abruptly at the question. Fear creeps up Weiss' spine, the sense of dread is overwhelming.

A lupine ear twitches and Ruby's head begins to move slowly, tilting up to look in her direction until their eyes meet. The faunus' silver eyes are cold and tinted red, her face completely devoid of emotion as she stares back at the Schnee.   
In an eerily slow manner, her mouth begins to spread into sinister grin, lips peeling back to reveal rows of sharp teeth and eyes opening wide. It continues to stretch, extending far beyond normal, until it seems as though Ruby's mouth would tear at the strain. Her eyes bulge in their sockets.

Weiss' stumbles back at the sight, breath hitching and hands scraping across the stone floor of the cave. This is no longer Ruby, it's something else and it's terrifying.

Glee fills the Reaper's now red eyes and her head snaps back suddenly, an impossibly broad grin opening to release a raucous, maniacal laughter that resounds off the cavern walls.

Weiss immediately draws Myrtenaster and tries to keep her eyes on her partner. It was difficult to do so as the dust lamp was next to Ruby and Weiss had moved far enough away from it that her partner was only partially illuminated by it. That didn’t stop the increasing red glow of the young Reaper’s eyes to be seen in the near darkness. 

At the sound of a weapon being drawn, the maniacal laughter abruptly stopped as quickly as it had begun whilst Ruby’s head snapped in the direction of Weiss. Her eyes quickly finding the white-haired girl in the gloomy cave, her eyesight far superior to that of the Schnee. 

Hate-filled crimson eyes bore into Weiss’ own, seemingly looking into her very soul, making a shiver run down the alabaster girl’s spine. 

“R-Ruby? Wh-what’s wrong? I- I can help you.” Weiss stuttered, fear and panic radiating throughout her entire being, showing itself through her voice.

Ruby chuckled lowly at Weiss’ words. It wasn’t a happy chuckle, but something devoid of joy and happiness. “I know what you did~” the young faunus sing-songed menacingly. 

Weiss was trying desperately not to let her fear show, but it was for naught as the young Reaper would most definitely sense the terrified state of her mind. It was even worse when she spoke as no matter what she did, she couldn’t control the tremor in her voice.

“Wh-what do you mean? I-I haven’t d-done anything, Ruby.” 

Another sadistic chuckle was the first reply, the second was of Ruby’s voice but it wasn’t at the same time. “Oh but you do little Weissy. You know you abandoned me. You chose to save her over me. It’s your fault I’m not with you anymore little Weissy.” The evil grin that spread across her face made the white-haired girl step back on instinct, her fear and panic is overdrive.

“B-but you’re standing right in front of me Ruby! I don’t understand what you’re saying!” Weiss said, gaining control over her voice, even if it was temporary.

Ruby’s demeanour changed in an instant, the evil smile was gone and was replaced with hatred, anger and the intent to kill. “DON'T YOU LIE TO ME WEISS. YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID! YOU ABANDONED ME! IT'S YOUR FAULT I’M A MONSTER!” She roared in response, low growls rumbling under the words. 

“Ruby! I don’t know what you mean! What did I do!” Weiss yelled back in desperation. That was a mistake on her part. Never yell back at a monster.

Immediately, Ruby disappeared in what looked like wilted rose petals and in an instant, appeared in front of the white-haired girl. Before she could react, the young Reaper already had a hand around her throat and was pushing her towards the cave wall.

The deranged faunus dragged her victim to the cave wall and slammed her into it; the force of the impact causing some of Weiss’ ribs to crack and break. She coughed once and tasted metallic crimson in her mouth.

“IT’S YOUR FAULT WEISS! YOU WEREN'T STRING ENOUGH TO SAVE ME! YOU NEVER EVER WILL BE! IT’S YOUR FAULT!” Ruby continued to roar, her inhuman voice echoing around the cave.

All Weiss could do was wait for the inevitable. She was going to die. This was it for her. Closing her eyes, she prepared herself for death that would come in the next few seconds. She waited but it never came. 

Opening an eye, she saw something that would always be ingrained into her memory. Her partner was longer her partner. Her love was becoming something she wished would never happen. Her heart stopped and her eyes widened in so much fear, she was sure her heart would give out any second now. But as if the universe wanted her to suffer, the impending heart attack never came.

The young Reaper began to growl lowly as she transformed into a beast of darkness and chaos. Her face elongated whilst a white mask spouted on her face, swallowing her features whole. Her arms and legs became longer and she began to slouch. Cracking bones and shifting muscle resounded in the cave. It was a brutal transformation. Even her claws became that of a Beowolf’s.

Soon enough, Ruby Rose no longer kept a hold of Weiss’ throat, instead it was that of an Alpha Beowolf with no qualms about killing anyone. Hate, chaos, destruction and anger was all that was left in her glowing red eyes. All she wanted to do now was end the life of the white-haired girl in her grasp.

Lifting her giant clawed paw away from Weiss’ throat, the Beolwolf that was Ruby, raised her paw; ready to slash down the alabaster girl’s body. 

Weiss couldn’t close her eyes now. Fear kept them wide open. Fear kept her anticipating how she would die. She had never been afraid of death. Not even as a child. But now, now she was. So she kept her eyes open and tried to prepare herself for the pain and hopefully a quick death.

Within an instant of those thoughts, Ruby’s paw stopped midway down. She whimpered and backed up, confusing Weiss but eventually turning to relief that maybe Ruby was coming back to her senses.

“Ru-“ the white-haired girl began but was cut short by the young Reaper lunging forwards as fast as lightning. 

She was wrong in assuming her partner was coming back to her. She was wrong to believe she would live. A Grimm is a Grimm no matter who they were beforehand. 

All Weiss felt were sharp teeth digging into her throat. The smell of blood permeated the air as Weiss went dizzy. The Grimm that was supposed to be her partner gripped tighter to her throat, causing a small gurgle to sound out and Weiss to whimper as she slowly began to blackout.

The universe was cruel but the Grimm in front of her was crueler still, as Weiss felt the flesh of her throat being pulled towards her supposed partner. It was so, so cruel.

The next thing she knew, her throat had been ripped out and she was quickly bleeding to death but the Reaper Grimm didn’t seem satisfied and ducked its head down to take another bite. 

\- - - - - - - - - - - -

Weiss shot up from her partner's bed, falling off it and landing on the dorm room floor. She was covered in a cold sweat and a scream was ready to erupt from her throat. She swallowed it down and began to shake uncontrollably as she made herself as small as possible on the floor. Tears were already flowing down her cheeks as she rocked herself back and forth. 

The scream she’d swallowed forced its way out as she felt a hand placing itself on her shoulder. The terrified former heiress scrambled away in fear before hitting her back on the study desk.

“Ruby please!” She cried, half of her mind still in the dream. 

“Weiss…” came a soft voice she recognised. “Weiss, it’s okay. It’s me, Yang.” The blonde whispered softly, moving towards the alabaster girl again.

Said girl cried harder, violent sobs wracking her entire body. “Y-Yang…” she managed to say through the sobs.

Immediately, the brawler scooped her up off the dorm room floor, sat on the lower bed and placed the sobbing girl on her lap and began to gently rock back and forth. Her hand automatically went to circling the former heiress’ back comfortingly. 

They stayed like that for a while, Yang whispering soft comforting words into Weiss’ ear as she was rocked back and forth like a newborn babe. 

Eventually, Weiss calmed down enough to speak but her words were still full of stutters and the occasional sob. “It-It was hor-horrible Yang. She-She killed m-me. Ruby k-killed me Yang.”   
Just the thought of her, the one she loved killing her so brutally, made more tears fall and her body to shake more as more sobs escaped.

“Shhhh it’s okay Weiss. You’re safe. You’re alive and well, it was just a nightmare. Okay?” Yang said, still speaking softly.

The former heiress only nodded in response whilst the blonde continued circling her back. 

“Do you wanna talk about it?” The brawler tried but she knew her teammate wouldn’t want to as always.

In reply, Weiss shook her against the blonde’s shoulder. Silence fell over them and eventually Weiss’ body soon stopped shaking and the sobs stopped completely. Replacing them was the gentle, even breathing of the sleeping alabaster girl. 

Yang repositioned the emotionally exhausted girl and stood up before placing her on the bed below Ruby’s. Weiss’ own bed which she didn’t actually use anymore.   
The blonde seemed to be an expert at putting people to bed without waking them. She was even better at comforting people. She didn’t know how or why but she never complained; especially when someone needed her as much as Weiss did almost every night.

After placing Weiss down carefully, she grabbed Ruby’s duvet and the photograph from the top bunk and placed them appropriately. The duvet over Weiss and the photograph next to her on the pillow. Then she made her way back to her own bed and settled in for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, there’s one of Weiss’ nightmares. Sorry about it being a filler chapter. Like I said, I’m stuck with what to write next. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  
> I can’t really give you the time frame of when chapter 24 will be up. Can’t write much at the moment but don’t worry, I’m not abandoning this story. It’s just gonna take a while for me to write the next chapter/s.  
> On another note, I hope you all enjoyed and don’t wanna kill me for doing a filler chapter. See you all next time and happy reading! :)


	24. Promotion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby spars against three of the strongest ranked SS program members. She gets a promotion for her efforts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeeyyyyy. This chapter is probably unnecessary but it does have some information I’ve snuck in. Kudos to whoever figures it out. Saying that, it’s not that much of a big deal. It’s just there.  
> Also, imma apologise now. First, for not updating for nearly a month and two because this chapter isn’t that long at all considering you’ve all been waiting for it for so long. I have my reason but I don’t wanna clog up the author notes. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy the new chapter. More info at the bottom. Happy reading!

3 months after Ruby’s abduction

Super Soldier program members gathered in the underground training arena, watching in awe as Ruby, or rather Crimson, fought against highly ranked members. She swung her scythe, fired dust-infused shots from her handgun and defended against her three opponents with ease.

They weren’t fighting to the death, although Crimson would’ve preferred it if they were but they were only sparring. The aura monitors used in the Vytal Festival and combat schools was proving to be a great asset as it also provided an opportunity for inventing a way to measure the amount of Grimm energy every member had. 

Naturally, Crimson’s was much higher than that of her artificially created Reapers. The three strong soldiers she was sparring against still had an astounding amount of energy and aura but even then, imitations never outclassed or overpowered the real thing.

The young Reaper twirled her scythe with the expertise of someone who had been using one for years, blocking one of her opponents and counter attacking with her handgun.   
The other two joined in simultaneously, attacking from both sides.   
The first recovered quickly but found more bullets being shot his way as his colleagues switched sides.

Her second opponent swung his long bladed weapon at her head whilst the third swung low with his mace.   
In one swift movement, the young Reaper enveloped her right hand with Grimm energy and aura and caught the blade going for her head and ripped it out the guys hands; pivoting on her left foot, she struck out with full force at the third opponents oncoming mace, knocking it out of his grip. The weapon clattered the ground and as he went to reach for it, he was surprised to find a very sharp, long bladed weapon sticking out of the ground next to his hand. He instinctively stumbled back and fell onto his rump.

The first opponent stood by watching as his fellows were being taken down with ease. Evidently all three of them had underestimated the young wolf faunus.

The second opponent ran forwards with his fist raised, ready to try and punch the girl into next week.   
His feet were taken from under him with a flaming scythe, his aura flickering. Crimson finished him off before he even hit the ground with a few well placed bullets to the chest, his aura flickering and fading out.

The third opponent was stupid enough to go for the bladed weapon, something he wasn’t used to fighting with.   
He ran forwards in an attempt to carry the fight on, but the younger girl just batted his weak swings away before landing a few more shots into his chest as well, his own aura doing the same thing as his colleague’s. Two down, one to go.

When he finally realised that his friends had been defeated, he shook his head and stepped into gear.   
His specialty was hand-to-hand combat, something the old Ruby never learned but the new Ruby, Crimson made sure she did for situations like this. His weapons were like that of Yang’s but much more advanced in using other dusts.

Her remaining opponent ran forwards, cocking the chambers on both the imitation gauntlets, coming in faster than she anticipated. Crimson aimed her handgun at his chest but found the ammo clip and chamber was empty. She didn’t have time to swing her scythe round let alone reload. She could, however, use her semblance to move out of the way but in her current mindset, that was a coward's way out.

So instead, she dropped both weapons as a deadly fist came flying towards her head. She dodged it in the nick of time before a volley of dust-infused punches were thrown her way.   
She got hit a few times in the head, chest and stomach before finally enveloping her entire body in Grimm energy. The hits from her opponent had no effect on her whatsoever.   
She almost forgot everyone in the facility were Reapers and was almost shocked when her opponent unleashed his own into his fists.

‘Uuuuuugh. This is a pain in the arse!’ She thought to herself, dodging out of the way of a complex combination of deadly fists.

The man seemed to be slowing down, his stamina not as good as his aura.

‘Perfect.’

With that, Crimson finally went onto the offensive, pushing back as far as she could. She channeled her semblance into her arms, making it more difficult to dodge her fists. 

Eventually, her opponent couldn't keep up and was knocked for six; his aura dying just before the finishing blow. 

The young Reaper looked around at her unconscious opponents whilst hiding the Grimm energy within her again. It always felt weird but she couldn’t have it going wild outside her body all the time.

The crowd that had been watching, fell silent for a few moments before erupting into a loud cheer, chanting her name and whistling loudly.  
The young faunus has forgotten she was sparring because the Master wanted to see how strong she was.   
She’d just managed to defeat three of his strongest SS members. 

‘I swear, I better get a promotion for this.’ She thought to herself, scrunching up her nose at the thought of not getting one for all she’d just done.

“Impressive. I’m not actually surprised you managed to defeat them. You are different to what they are after all.” The voice of Jacques Schnee rant out over the arena, silencing everyone in the overly large room.

The red-themed girl was taken aback by the praise. She knew she was different in some ways but she didn’t exactly know how. All she knew was that Jacques was bringing back her kind to save them and then go to war to rule the world after it. Plus, the faunus would gain equal rights whilst humans would be subjected to whatever they wanted.

“Thank you, Sir.” She replied, turning towards where the Schnee was sitting, saluting as she faced him.

“Since you have defeated those three, I am prepared to give you a promotion. You will take the place of the fourth in command.” His voice was always so commanding and business-like, Crimson didn’t really know what to make of it.

“Thank you, Sir.” She said plainly, not showing any emotion. The man didn’t like emotions for some reason.

Jacques then stood from his seat, signalling one of his assistants to his side that held a cushion with a small, shiny pin on it. He made his way over to the young faunus, his assistant following closely, and stopped in front of her. 

“I now declare Crimson as Sergeant First Class, fourth in command of the SS Reaper Army.” The SCD CEO announced, picking the pin from the cushion and pinning it to her combat uniform. 

“Thank you, Sir. It is a great honour.” She said, standing to attention and saluting him.   
She still didn’t show any emotion, she didn’t have any to express. Well, she did. But not the happy, positive kind.

The white-haired man turned on his heel and walked back the way he came, stopping before exiting. “You are all dismissed. Get back to your normal activities.” He said and then disappeared through a pair of double doors.

Many lower ranking members came to congratulate her, each time she said her thanks but eventually got sick of it and headed towards the showers. Only to be told she couldn’t shower there anymore and had her own private bathroom in her own new room. 

She didn’t complain any further when she found the room. It was fairly big for one person but it allowed her to have more space to tinker with Infernal Rose and Thorn. 

After her shower, she got her dinner and retired early for the night. Considering she had used a lot of her Grimm energy, she didn’t feel like it was low. Full, if anything.   
That just meant she wouldn’t need to have the horrific injections of black goopy stuff shoved into her arm to regenerate the energy. 

The young wolf faunus often wondered where they acquired the stuff but never questioned it out loud. She’d wanted to snoop around but there were just too many people to do so. Plus, the medical wings were often closed off to those who didn’t need anything from it.

‘I’ll have to figure something out. Maybe Blake will help me figure out what that stuff is.’ The young Reaper thought before turning out the light in her new room and climbing into bed. Her dreams of black pools of goop and monsters only found in the worst nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that’s that some for now. Buuut I have information on the next chapters. For the next few days, I will be uploading three more chapters then after that, the frequency of updates will hopefully go to once a week. If there isn’t an update within a week then it’s probably because I’m either busy, got writers block or whatever else happens in life. But don’t panic when there isn’t an update for ages, I am not abandoning this work.  
> Anywho, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Chapter 25 will be typed up as posted tomorrow! Most likely around the same time. Bye for now and happy reading! :)


	25. Winter’s Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winter calls with some news. Will it be good news or bad news and how will the freezerburn duo take it all?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeey, you know how I said I was gonna post this chapter yesterday? Yeah, I lied. Well not so much of a lie but I forgot to do it. I was watching Legend of Korra and you know, got distracted and totally forgot to post it. Sooo, here it is now!  
> Please don’t kill me for it being late. :D  
> Hope you all enjoy, I don’t wanna clog the chapter up with my super long authors notes, like I usually do. So, enjoy and happy reading!

5 months after Ruby’s abduction

Weiss paced back and forth in the dorm room, not wanting to believe it had been five months since her partner had been taken.

Even with Winter’s help, they hadn’t a shred of information on the whereabouts of Ruby or who was responsible. They’d even investigated the White Fang and still hadn’t gotten anywhere. Well, they did find out that the White Fang didn’t have their leader and that Adam Taurus had betrayed them. Weiss has figured out that Adam Taurus and the Minotaur were one in the same but his motivations didn’t add up.

Most of the answers to the questions they’d asked, only led to more questions and more pieces to fit into an unsolvable puzzle. Nothing made sense and they were basically back to square one.

Weiss’ pacing quickened, Yang watching her as she did so; worry etched onto her face. 

“Weiss, will you stop pacing, you’re making me dizzy.” the blonde complained, taking her eyes away from the former heiress and rubbing her temples.

Sighing, the white-haired girl stopped in place and rubbed her own temples. “Sorry, it’s just we haven’t heard from Winter this week. We haven’t got any viable leads and only accusations on my father.” She ranted, puffing out the air in her lungs.

“I know, I get it. But pacing and worrying isn’t gonna solve this. The only thing we can do is to wait. Maybe Winter’s found something but needs time to put it together.” Yang replied, getting up from her seat and placing her hands on the other girl’s shoulders.

Sighing in defeat, Weiss’ hands dropped to her sides. “Yeah. You’re right.” She simply said before walking over to her bed and flopping backwards onto it.

Just as the alabaster girl dropped, the call notification blared out on her scroll. Reacting instantly, she darted up and grabbed the device and answered it without checking the caller ID.

“Hello, Weiss.” Winter’s smooth voice came through the earpiece of the device.

“Winter! Do you have anything?” the younger Schnee said, desperation in her tone.

“I have, yes. But you won’t like it.” 

“What is it?” Weiss questioned, worry starting to show.

“I have sent you a video clip originally sourced from a home security camera. I must warn you, it contains very disturbing images.” Winter responded, her voice softening.

“Alright, should I hang up or just watch it whilst staying on the line?” the younger Schnee inquired, unsure of what to do.

“Stay on the line. I’ll need confirmation that it is indeed Ruby Rose.”

With those words, Weiss checked her inbox and found the video file. Pressing on it, it loaded and then began to play.

A man was pacing in what looked to be the living room, pacing the entirety of it before coming to a sudden stop.   
He said something but the camera's audio didn’t pick it up. Someone else was in the room with him.   
The man shouted, the audio picking it up very clearly. ‘Who are you!?’

The person off camera said something. Again, the audio didn’t pick it up.   
The man replied by shouting again, shouting out to his guards but none came. The audio from the camera, however, picked up a low, humourless chuckle.

Next, the man began to beg for his life as the person came into view. A red cloaked, short person with the hood down. Black and red-topped wolf ears sat on the person's head.   
‘Please! Don’t kill me! I’ll give you anything you want!’

The cloaked person said one last thing before slicing through their victim like butter, the blade of the scythe they were using on fire.   
For some reason, the camera picked up the person’s last words before cutting down an innocent man.  
‘Jacques Schnee sends his regards.’

Complete, utter shock radiated through Weiss in that moment. The voice that said those words sounded like her partner but they didn’t at the same time. Plus, they had proof that her father was involved with Ruby’s abduction. 

Thinking the video was over, Weiss went to press a button to get rid of it but stopped just as the wolf faunus turned their head towards the camera.   
The girl that looked back wasn’t Ruby anymore. The girl that looked back was a soldier and an assassin that showed no emotion whatsoever. 

Ruby disappeared from the view of the camera, wilting rose petals the only thing left in her wake.

At that, the video cut off and Weiss stayed silent for a long time. Yang didn’t say a word either. Both girl’s in utter shock at what they’d just watched their leader do.

“Weiss? You there?” Winter called out, slightly bringing Weiss out of her shocked state.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah I’m here.” She replied, still trying to compose herself.

“Can you confirm that the person in the cloak is Ruby Rose?” Winter inquired, though her voice was much softer than usual.

It took a moment for the white-haired girl to respond, the images of Ruby cutting the man in half replaying in her head.

“Yes. That was Ruby. But…” Weiss said, her heart slightly breaking from the look the faunus girl had given the camera.

“But?” Came the simple question.

“But it wasn’t at the same time.” Weiss responded, her voice almost a whisper.

“I see. I’ll need you and your remaining teammate to come to Atlas so we can discuss plans to rescue Ruby and take down father.” Winter explained.

“Of course, but we will need Professor Ozpin’s permission…”Weiss replies, trailing off because she had the feeling Ozpin wasn’t going to give them the permission they needed.

“It is alright. I will talk with the headmaster about the matter. I will let you know later on what he says.” There was a sigh on the other end and Winter added, “I have to go Weiss. Duty calls but I will let you know what happens. Goodbye sister.”

“Thank you and goodbye Winter.” 

And with that, the call cut off and the room went silent. Neither Weiss nor Yang didn’t have or want to say anything at that moment. The camera footage still fresh in their minds, replaying over and over again until it was completely ingrained into their memories.

They stayed silent for what seemed like a few hours but it was just a mere few minutes. 

It seemed Yang was getting bored with the uncomfortable silence and decided to break it.  
“Hey, uh Weiss. We should probably do our extended assignments. We can’t let our grades suffer.”

“What do grades matter when we can’t even get to Ruby? When I wasn’t fast enough to stop her from being taken, to stop you from losing your arm. I knew I wasn’t strong enough to go after Blake and Adam so I chose to stay behind. I chose not to rescue Ruby when I had the chance! I should’ve been faster and stronger to save the both of you but I wasn’t! It's my fault she got taken in the first place and I don’t think it’s even possible to get her back!” Weiss’ voice rose steadily in volume as she ranted. Her pent up emotions finally being put on display. Tears threatened to roll down her pale cheeks, the anger boiling her blood from her own failings and the feeling of her heart breaking on all show for the first time in months.

Taken aback by the sudden show of emotions, Yang didn’t know what to do. She knew Weiss cared for Ruby but she didn’t expect the pained, heart broken look to cross the former heiress face. Now she knew different. The white-haired girl was suffering because of her cousin’s abduction. She was suffering because she had fallen in love with the one person that had been through so much already before meeting the Ice Queen.

Thinking back on it, Weiss had always had a soft spot for the young leader. Only ever chastising her or scolding her for her own good but never going towards the insults and glares everyone else got.   
The blonde could see it all now, as plain as day.   
She needed to do something. So she did.

“Weiss… It’s okay. I understand now. The best thing for us to do, is to distract ourselves for now until we can rescue Ruby. And besides, you’re stronger and faster now. Your time dilation glyphs have improved immensely and you’ve got your Knight summon.” Yang tried to comfort the white-haired girl, wrapping her up in a warm embrace. 

Tears broke free of their prison and rolled down the former heiress’ face, the girl not caring anymore and letting emotions play out until she couldn’t feel anything anymore. 

“I just...w...want her b...back.” Weiss’ cried, sobs wracking her entire frame. 

“And we will get her back. You will get her back. I promise we will, even if we have to sneak to Atlas.” Yang promised, her voice as soft as the colour of her eyes.

Yang’s promise and the circles being drawn on her back eventually calmed the white-haired girl down. Just enough for her to fall asleep in the clutches of her yellow-themed teammate. Again.   
Although, Yang didn’t mind. She liked comforting people and letting them fall asleep against her shoulder.  
But, she couldn’t stay sat up all afternoon, otherwise her back would probably give out on her. With that in mind, the blonde gently shifted Weiss in her arms and placed her on her bed proper and left her to sleep her emotional torment off.

—————————————————————

The sun had just set when Weiss awoke. The room a calm, peaceful place to be in that moment.   
All of her pent up emotions weren’t as pent up as before but they were still there. They were always there, hiding in the back of her mind waiting to break her into pieces again.

She thought about just going back to sleep but thought better of it, lest she be plagued by more nightmares.   
Thankfully, she didn’t have to decide as her scroll began to blare out the ringtone of someone calling.   
She lazily picked the device off her desk and answered it.

“Hello, Weiss. It’s me. I have news.” It was Winter again.   
This time, however, her voice was full of something more positive than the call earlier.

“Hello again Winter. What’s this news? Is it good or bad?” Weiss responded groggily, not even bothering to hide the fact she sounded awful. Probably looked it too.

“I’ll let you decide that, dear sister.” Came the reply.

Weiss sighed before answering back. “Can you just say it and stop stalling.” It wasn’t a request, more like a demand that she didn’t mean to make it sound like. 

“Okay. Ozpin has given you and your remaining teammate permission to travel to Atlas under pretence that it is a mission to exterminate Grimm near the borders.” Winter’s voice now sounded sharp and rather annoyed.

“Uuugh, sorry, I didn’t mean to take that tone with you, Winter. I’m just...tired. But thank you for getting us permission. I owe you. A lot.” the younger Schnee groaned but changed her tone when thanking her sister.

“It is fine, dear sister. But what do you mean by, you are tired?”   
Oops, maybe she should keep her thoughts and emotions in check when talking to her older sister. Not that she wanted to hide anything from the older Schnee but deep, emotional talks never went down well with their family. So, they never spoke to each other of their emotional states.

“It...it’s nothing. I’m fine.” Weiss said, her voice going back to the usual Schnee tone. No emotion and certainly no showing weaknesses.

“Weiss, I know there’s something wrong. You don’t just say you're tired and then say you’re fine. What are ‘tired’ about?” Winter knew the true meaning behind the words and didn’t hesitate to question the younger girl about it.

Said girl sighed in defeat, arguing with herself in her thoughts on whether or not she should tell her sister.  
She opted for the better option.  
“I’m just tired of everything. It’s like we’ll never rescue Ruby. I know I won’t be strong enough or fast enough like last time. When Ruby was taken, I couldn’t go after her because I’m so weak. I stayed behind and let them take her. And now, i don’t think we’ll ever get her back.” 

Winter was silent for a moment, processing all of the information before speaking gently but sternly at the same time. “Weiss, you do realise that you saved the life of Yang right? If it weren’t for staying behind, you would have lost her as well as Ruby and Blake. With Yang still alive, you have a better chance to find and rescue your partner.”

“But, what about not being able to see through Blake. I should’ve noticed before it all happened.” Weiss tried to argue, still trying to pin the blame on herself.

“Weiss, listen to me. You are not responsible for Blake betraying you or for Ruby being abducted. You tried. Trying is better than doing nothing at all. You wouldn’t have been able to see through Blake because you were too occupied making plans with your partner. So, please, stop blaming yourself.” The older Schnee’ tone went from stern and commanding to soft and sisterly. 

“But-“ Weiss tried.

“No buts Weiss. See past all of that and you will become stronger. Concentrate on finding your team leader, get her back and give her a bloody kiss.” 

The younger Schnee instantly turned red at the suggestion. How the hell did Winter even know about her feelings for the wolf faunus?

“Wha...how… how did you know?” Weiss stuttered and Winter laughed. Her own flesh and blood laughed at her.

“It is rather obvious, dear sister. The way you blame yourself, the way you used to talk about her to me on scroll-message and a few other subtle things. Also, Yang told me earlier on.” Winter laughed again. It was a warm, joyful laugh and Weiss had missed it. She also missed it from her team leader.

‘Okaaay. Way to ruin the slight happiness I was just feeling. Uuugh.’ Weiss thought, groaning inwardly.

“Anyway, I have booked you both airship tickets for in the morning. The airship leaves at 7:30am. It is first class so you won’t be held up going through customs and the like.” Winter said, interrupting her thoughts, thankfully.

“Thank you, Winter. I have no idea where Yang is though and we have to get packing.” Weiss dumbly replies, not realising one crucial thing.

“Weiss… that’s why you have a scroll. Did you forget you can call people on it?” Winter said, teasing her little sister.

“Wiiinter.” Weiss whined like a child. 

The older Schnee chuckled before saying, “Well, it looks like I have to go. Goodbye Weiss.” 

“Alright, goodbye. Again.”

Before she hung up, she heard her older sister say one last thing. “And I wasn’t joking about you giving your partner a kiss when you rescue her.”

With that last bit of teasing, Weiss immediately ended the call, her face ablaze once more. And unfortunately, Yang had to walk through the door as her face burned hot.

“Why are you so red?” The blonde asked curiously, raising a blonde eyebrow.

“N..no. It’s nothing. I...I’m fine.” The former heiress scolded herself internally for stuttering and stumbling like a fool. 

“Suuuure.” Yang said, sarcasm laced thickly in her voice.

“Shut up.” Weiss mumbled, finding the carpet much more interesting than the teasing lilac eyes of her brutish teammate.

Said brute chuckled but left her to herself and climbed onto her bunk. 

Then Weiss remembered something very important. “Yang, we got permission to go to Atlas from Ozpin. Winter sent us airship tickets for tomorrow morning, so we might want to start packing.” 

“Really? We’re going tomorrow?” Yang questioned, sitting up quickly in excitement.

“Yes, really. The airship leaves at 7:30am. So better get packing some clothes and anything else you need.” The white-haired girl responded, getting off her own bed and routing under it for a suitcase.

Yang didn’t even move and just stared. That is until Weiss sent her a glare to get her butt in gear.

For the next few hours, the two girls packed the essentials they needed for the trip to Atlas. They had no idea how long they’d be there for but they were going to be prepared. Even if it meant taking every single piece of clothing they had. And Weiss had a lot.

They argued about what to take and compromised only to argue again. In the end they only packed one suitcase each and then retired for the night. They would have to be awake very early if they were to catch the flight to Atlas.   
Hopefully, they wouldn’t miss it and then miss the chance to rescue Ruby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sooooo that’s chapter 15. If you find any inconsistencies, please let me know so I can rectify them.  
> Chapter 26 may or may not be posted tomorrow- I have yet to type it up and edit it so I ain’t promising it’ll be up tomorrow. But it could be!  
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It was pain in the butt to write so I reeeallly hope you did enjoy.  
> But for now, see ya later and Happy Reading! :)


	26. Assignment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The assignment Ruby took that was partially described in the previous chapter.  
> Ruby is also going a little coo-coo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> helloooo again. I don’t actually have anything to say today on here so imma just let you get straight to the chapter. I hope you enjoy and happy reading! :)

1 week before Winter’s Call

It had been quite a while since the young Reaper had been given her promotion. Quite a few weeks, and in those weeks Crimson had completed many ‘assignments’ specifically chosen for her to do. 

It was a little weird that the Master kept giving her assassination assignments but then again, she didn’t care. Only because she loved the thrill of stalking her ‘prey’ and then killing whoever her target was without mercy.   
But as it were, she had another one to complete today.

Her new target was a middle-aged man that lived in the nicer parts of Atlas. The building he resided in would most likely have security cameras and possibly guards. Hopefully just one of the two. 

Now, the young faunus was on her way to her victims residence, hoping to make the kill quick and clean; escaping into the night air before anyone would notice what she’d done.

With a device giving her directions, she soon arrived, eyeing up the large gates on the front and the gate guard in the guard house. Should she kill him? Maybe. 

‘But he has a family somewhere.’ A tiny voice in the back of her mind said. Soft and sweet like honey but refined and well polished.

Sighing, the young Reaper decided not to kill the gate guard and disappeared in a flurry of rose petals. Appearing at the back of the moderately sized house, she put her hood over her head and wolf ears.

Looking around, she saw no cameras in the large backyard but did see a few guards walking around the perimeter. She’d easily be able to take them out if she wanted to or maybe just go around them and find a way into the house.

‘Yessss. Kill them. They deseeerve it. Kiiilll them. No meeeercy.’ This time, a different voice echoed throughout her mind. It was like fingernails being dragged on a chalkboard, egging her on to kill the people she saw in cold blood.

The other voice seemed to come back, arguing against the chalkboard voice. ‘No! Don’t! They have families and they do not deserve to die!”

It seemed a war was beginning to rage inside the young Reaper’s mind; both voices arguing with each on what to do. The chalkboard voice was winning and beginning to persuade the young faunus of what it wanted her to do.

‘Kill then! KILL THEM NOW!’ It yelled one last time before Crimson finally snapped and did the voice’s bidding.

Even in her muddled thoughts, she still managed to think it was best to kill them from behind, avoiding a fight she knew she’d win anyway.

So, with that in mind the deranged Reaper sprung out from behind a large bush and activated her semblance, stopping just behind a guard.   
The best way to kill, for her, was to slice someone in half and watch their blood and guts spill out whilst the light from their eyes died out.

That’s exactly what she did. Hefting Infernal Rose up, she swung back down in a deadly arch, cutting right through the unsuspecting guard. His body slumped and fell in two separate pieces.

What she didn’t expect, was another regulars facing her, coming down the path she was on. The look of horror and fear on his face gave her a thrill until she realised he could shout at any moment. So, she swung her scythe back up and he too, fell into two pieces, spraying bloody crimson on the path, in the air and on herself. She loved it.

Finding the rest of the guards was child’s play to her. There were so many for her to play with that by the time she was done, her clothes were covered in the blood of her victims.

All she had to do now was to go back to the guard house and kill the guard in there and then she could take her target out in whatever manner she thought he deserved. But, the chalkboard voice came back and denied her of that fantasy.

‘NO! Kill the target. No tiiiime.’

Walking the inside perimeter of the house, she soon found an opened window she could climb up to and through. She did and found herself in a good sized bedroom but everything in it was dull and boring.

She listened out for anyone coming up and down the hall and eventually emerged from the bedroom, finding no one was walking the halls.   
Now where could her target be? 

She already knew what she was going to do with the man. She was going to split him two and then four and then maybe six. Cover the floor and the ceiling and the walls with his blood and guts.   
Maybe she could even rip out one of his organs and feed it to him whilst he begged for his life before cutting him half. That would be fun.

‘No! Kiiiilll quickly.’ There was that horrific voice again but, she listened to it and retracted her thoughts of torturing her victim.

Now at the end of the corridor on what she assumed was the second floor, she crept carefully down the steps, keeping an eye out for anyone that could compromise her. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a who but a what that made noise. A step she’d placed her foot on creaked loudly in the moderately sized hallway. 

Quickly, she activated her semblance, dashing off into what looked to be a large living room.   
She did not expect to see her target pacing the room. 

Her victim's head swivelled in her direction, a look of anger crossed his face but it was soon replaced with a look of complete utter fear.

“Who are you?” He inquired, his fear making his voice unsteady.

At that, the young Reaper chuckled. It was devoid of humour and joy. It was just a chuckle worthy of someone who didn’t feel emotions.

She stepped forward. The man stepped back. A sadistic grin began to spread across her face. She could smell his fear. She could feel it. She could also feel every single negative emotion the man was feeling. 

“Who are you!?” The man yelled, his fear skyrocketing.

This time, she thought it best to reply or the man may actually piss himself from fear. 

“Who I am matters not. Your death, however, is a different matter altogether.” Her voice almost like that of the chalkboard voice in her head, no emotion and full of murderous intent.

“Guards! Guards come quickly!” The man shouted, desperate to get away from the deranged girl in front of him.

Crimson blinked a few times before bursting into a fit of humourless laughter. Her victim stepped back in fright, the fear permeating the air around them.

“They’re all dead~” the young Reaper sing-signed, stepping closer and closer, taking her hood down so her victim could see his killer’s face.  
The man watched as his killer took her good down and raised a large scythe and pressed some kind of button. The blade instantly setting ablaze.

The man backed up as much as he could, until his back hit the wall behind. “Please! Don’t kill me! I’ll give you whatever you want!” He pleaded desperately, but Crimson wouldn’t have it.

“Jacques Schnee sends his regards.” She said, emotionless.

And with that, the sadistic grin she wore only grew wider as she brought Infernal Rose down on the man. It entered from on top of his right shoulder and ran right through him with ease. Almost like he was butter and not filled with blood and organs. The scythe then exited from above his left hip. 

A look of shock etched itself onto his face as his upper body slid from his lower body and splattered on the floor. Blood pooled out like a river and his guts fell out in lumps. Mainly his intestines but it was still fun to watch.

Whipping her weapon to the side, the blood of her latest victim splattered off of it and onto the wall. That when she felt it.

It felt like someone was watching her from behind. She turned and no one was there. Until she looked up and saw a camera looking straight at her. 

She stared at it for a long moment and swore under breath before activating her semblance once more; leaving wilting red rose petals in her wake.

It wasn’t long before she heard the wailing sirens of local law enforcement, rushing through the streets to the house she’d just been at. 

Luckily, dark alleyways and smaller buildings jutted out all of the city, enabling her to keep hidden whilst she made her way back to the facility.

She knew she’d fucked up and would most likely be punished for it if the Schnee got wind of her being compromised by a hidden camera. But she couldn’t worry about that right now. She needed food and sleep before she could start her next assignment.

And so, she slowly and carefully made her way through the city back to her current home, unaware that the camera had been set live to the Atlas Military General, for who she had killed was an important person in the kingdom. He wasn’t just an ordinary rich man but a councilman of Atlas and Mantle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it’s not very long guys but that’s that for now until I type up the next chapter. I can’t actually remember if I’ve even drafted it up yet or not. I’ll soon find out.  
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter regardless of its length. This one was a pain in the arse to write as I needed to get everything from the previous chapter to go parallel with this one. Uuuugh. Buuut it’s done now.   
> Anyways, same will be happening to the next chapter. It’ll either be tomorrow or the day after that I type up and post it, but no promises. I know I’ll end up procrastinating as I already nearly did tonight.   
> Anywho, I better go and start typing up the next chapter if I want it posting tomorrow. So bye for now and happy reading! :)


	27. Atlas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss and Yang finally make it to Atlas. They go to Winter’s apartment after she picks them up from Atlas Airship Terminal. A little bit of teasing ensues from Winter.  
> Winter and Yang also start secretly worrying about Weiss’ physical and mental state, noticing how thin she’s becoming.  
> They also plan their next moves on how to corner and subdue Ruby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeyooo. Sorry about making you all wait so long for this chapter. Couldn’t figure it out. I don’t know if it actually makes sense or not. Please let me know if any mistakes or if anything contradicts itself.  
> On another note, please enjoy the chapter :)
> 
> Word count- 4261

Finally. Finally they had made it to Atlas. The journey had taken much longer than anticipated. Airship delays and customs staff in Vale airship terminal gave the white and yellow pair quite a bit of trouble. Something to do with unauthorised weapons and the risk they could pose to the general public. Thankfully, a call to Ozpin had it all settled within a couple of hours. They still had to endure the three hour delay because of a flock of giant Nevermore flying over the route they would take.

But finally, they were here. They were ready to start their search for their young team leader. They were ready to go to any lengths to rescue her and bring her home. It wouldn’t be as easy as they thought.

Walking out of Atlas’ airship terminal wasn’t anything like walking out of the one in Vale. It was cold, bitter and quite depressing. The endless stream of snow falling from the sky didn’t help the temperature, nor did it help the feeling of anxiety that coiled in the pit of Weiss’ stomach.  
It was starting to take over the white-haired girl again. It was the same feeling she always had when it came to talking to her father about potential suitors, the company and whatever snide remark he’d make about her.

“How the hell can it be so cold here?” Yang questioned to no one in particular, pulling the former heiress from the thoughts of her father.

Weiss knew the question was rhetorical but she answered anyway. “Probably because Atlas is way up north and nowhere near the equator. It snows almost everyday of the year here.”

A chuckle from the blonde surprised her. “What? What’s so funny?” The white-haired girl inquired, narrowing her eyes at the blonde brawler.

“Nothing. It’s just, I always wondered why you hated the sun in Vale, even though it wasn’t always that warm.”

The reply was a scoff of annoyance and the click-clack of high heeled boots as Weiss began to walk towards a car that had just pulled up.

Yang grinned, following the former heiress to the waiting car, pulling along her teammates luggage and her own.

As they both approached, a woman in military uniform stepped out of the car; her hair as white as Weiss’, pulled into a tight bun. The scowl on her face softened as her ice blues eyes locked with her younger sister’s equally icy orbs.

“Weiss. It’s good to see you. How are you doing?” The older Schnee questioned, pulling Weiss into a tight embrace.

Pulling away from the surprise hug, Weiss looked into her sister's eyes. “I’m fine. My grades haven’t been suffering, I’m still top-“

“Quiet you boob! I didn’t ask what your grades are like. I asked how you are. Are you eating properly, getting enough sleep?” Winter interrupted, swatting her younger sister upside the head.

Yang couldn’t help the giggle that escaped from her throat. A glare from the younger Schnee told her not to say anything but she couldn’t help having a jab at her shorter teammate. “Even I knew what she meant, you boob.” The blonde grinned mischievously before dissolving into more giggles.

“Yang.” Weiss said, pausing. “Shut up before I freeze you upside-down to the CCT tower.” The glare she emitted could’ve frozen any man solid but not the brawler that’s always seemed to be a higher temperature than anyone else.

The yellow-themed girl decided not to push her luck and stopped giggling and making jokes. Her mischievous smile didn’t leave, however.

Winter watched the interaction curiously before a small smile found its way onto her lips, amusement evident in her eyes.  
She thought it a good idea to let her curiosity ask a question her sister would no doubt deny.

“Is there something you aren’t telling me, dear sister?” She asked, gaining the younger Schnee’s attention.

“What? What do you mean?” Came the confused reply.

Winter looked towards the blonde that was awkwardly standing two metres away and then looked back to Weiss, wiggling her eyebrows in a very uncharacteristic way. Well, Winter wiggling her eyebrows wasn’t something she did around people.

Instantly, Weiss got to the insinuation and began stuttering and stumbling over her words. “W...what!? No! We’re j...just friends!” 

“Sure you are.” Winter replied, a glint of her own mischief in her eyes. 

“Winter! I’m telling you! We’re just friends. Yang just helps me after nightmares and stuff!” Weiss was turning a hilarious shade of red. Winter wasn’t sure if it was from anger or embarrassment or both but she found it amusing nonetheless.

Guffawing laughter drew her attention to her blonde teammate. Yang was almost doubling over in laughter.

“You...you should ha...have seen your face!” The brawler said between peels of laughter. 

She hated being made fun of. Her anger rose inside her chest, ready to burst until she heard Winter laughing as well. The anger evaporated and she couldn’t help but laugh herself, even if it was laughing at her own embarrassment.

After some time, the trio put the luggage in the trunk and climbed into the car, starting their journey through the large city to Winter’s three bedroom apartment. 

The silence in the car wasn’t comfortable or even uncomfortable. It felt neutral and quite peaceful considering the amount of cars honking and moving about in the late evening traffic jam.  
Winter wasn’t too concerned over the silence as she preferred it compared to trying to make small talk. But as it were, Weiss still hadn’t answered her question and the mention of nightmares worried her more than it should have.

Weiss was a big girl. She was almost a woman and could look after herself. Well, that’s what Winter thought but as she sneaked glances at her younger sister, she could see the dark spots under her eyes, the way her cheekbones jutted out ever so slightly. The makeup Weiss wore hid the girl’s exhaustion quite well but even then, nothing could escape Winter’s calculating gaze.

“Weiss?” Winter said in question.

“Hmm?” Came the distracted reply.

“You still didn’t answer my question.” 

“Winter.” Weiss sighed, “I’m fine.”

“You don’t seem fine. You don’t look fine either. Weiss, tell me what’s going on with you.” The older woman sounded like she was pleading but Weiss knew her sister never begged for anything.

“Winter I’m fine so stop asking!” Weiss replied, her voice rising at the accusation that she wasn’t alright. She threw a glare at her older sister but soon retracted it and chose to face the side window instead, guilt for her outburst adding to her anxiety.

Winter looked to the blonde in the back seat through the mirror, surprise etched onto her face. Even Yang was surprised by the outburst. 

The blonde looked to her teammate, seeing her shoulders shaking ever so slightly. The reflection in the side window confirmed Yang’s worry that Weiss was silently crying. Instinctively, the blonde sat forwards and reached out, placing her metal hand on the crying girls shoulder.

“Weiss… It’s okay to not be okay. Winter only wants to make sure you’re okay and know what’s happening in your head.” Yang said softly, comforting the shorter girl.

Winter smiled a soft smile at the pair but didn’t say anything until they arrived at her apartment.

It seemed Weiss had fallen asleep during the rest of the drive through the busy city. The pressure of a comforting metal hand on her shoulder helped her to stop crying and eventually fall into slumber. But she had to wake up as they were now at the apartment they’d be staying at for who knows how long.  
She didn’t want to wake up from the pleasant dream she was having. She didn’t want to leave her partner alone again but she knew it’d soon turn into a nightmare; like it always did.

“Weiss~.” Came Yang’s voice. “Weiss it’s time to wake up.” 

She grumbled, eliciting a chuckle from Winter. Yang shook her shoulder, making Weiss grumble louder. “Leave me alone.” She slurred, her voice raspy from sleep and crying.

“Okay. We’re gonna have to do this the hard way.” Yang said, trying to stifle a giggle as she put an arm under the younger Schnee’s legs and the other around her back.

As she picked the light-weight girl up, Weiss instantly woke up and started to flail. “Yang! Put me down! I’m awake now!” She yelled, voice hoarse.

“Nope.” Yang replied, popping the ‘p’.

At that, Yang carried the younger Schnee to the front door, struggling to keep a hold of the flailing girl. 

Winter chuckled at the sight whilst taking their luggage out of the trunk. As soon as she looked away, she heard an ‘oof’ and a ‘thump’ as a bottom hit the ground.  
Looking back up, she saw Weiss on the floor grumbling to herself and Yang rubbing a cheek.  
She laughed this time. The freezerburn’s antics were amusing her more than she thought they would.

“Why did you drop me!?” Weiss said angrily as she got to her feet and brushed off her skirt.

“What else am I supposed to do when you punch me in the face?” Yang replied rather calmly, still rubbing her cheek.

“Well don’t pick me up and expect me to let you carry me when I’m perfectly capable of walking!” Came the angry retort.

“You wouldn’t wake up, so how's it my fault. I only thought it best to carry you since you wouldn’t wake up!” Yang was getting frustrated now, it was evident in her flickering red eyes.

Winter thought it a good idea to intervene now, lest the pair start fighting and cause damage to the property.  
“Weiss, enough. She’s right, you wouldn’t wake up. Stop blaming others for your own actions.” Winter said, as sternly as she could whilst fighting back her amusement. “And you…” she said, turning to the blonde, “calm it. I know she’s a handful but getting angry only makes her anger worse.”

“Heeey!” Weiss tried to argue back.

“Weiss.” The older Schnee said in a warning tone. 

With that, they finally entered the apartment building, getting into the elevator and riding it to the very top in silence.   
Stepping out, they soon arrived at the front door. Winter unlocked it and stepped in and moved to the side to let the white and yellow pair in before shutting the door. 

“I’ll make dinner soon. For now, get a shower and take it easy. Tomorrow we have a lot to go through.” The older Schnee said, gaining the pair’s attention.  
Both nodded in agreement and went about placing their luggage in two of three rooms, glad that all rooms had an en-suite.

After they’d showered, they ate dinner in silence. No one wanted to bring up the things they were going to do to get Ruby back. They just thought and ate in silence before trying to relax in front of the large TV that looked like an oversized scroll.

Weiss soon fell asleep, subconsciously snuggling up to the warmth next to her. She was never one for watching TV apart from documentaries but even that didn’t tickle her fancy at the moment. 

Winter noticed the subconscious action and smiled softly but soon went back to writing a report on the recent murders done by the team leader of RWBY.

Soon enough, Winter retired to bed with Yang rousing the younger Schnee to go to bed. They had a long day ahead of them. Well, days.

—————————————————————

Dawn broke over the horizon, spilling unusually warm sunshine over the large city and into the bedroom where a white-haired girl began to stir. A crack in the curtain let the slightly warm sun through, blinding the girl as she opened her eyes.

For once, she hadn’t had a nightmare about her partner. For once, she’d managed to get a good night’s rest without anything plaguing her mind. She felt miles better than she had yesterday. She might actually be able to eat something today and maybe even think of a good enough plan to find and rescue Ruby. Plus, she and yang had the brilliant mind of her sister there to help them come up with something plausible without getting either of them injured or worse.

Sitting up and swinging her legs out from under the covers, she went to stand up but dizziness and weakness overtook her head and body. She quickly sat back down and tried to focus on something else other than the spinning room.   
A moment passed and she tried again. The dizziness returned but it wasn’t as bad as before, so, she made her towards the bathroom to relieve herself and get ready for the day. 

She knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep anymore than she had. She knew the nightmares would return if she did try to sleep anymore.   
Stepping into the bathroom, she stripped to nothing and eyed herself in the body-length mirror.

The muscles in her legs had started to degrade to just skin and bone, her hips still looked blimp enough but her ribs were starting to show through her chest. Her small breasts looked even smaller than before. A touch of envy entered her mind at Yang having the best assets on the team. At least she had first hand experience on how squishy and soft they were under her head. 

Blushing furiously, she moved away from the mirror and stepped into the shower. She turned it on and let the cold water rush over her body, shocking the rest of it awake. It slowly turned warm to scolding hot.   
After washing herself thoroughly, the white-haired girl stepped out of the shower with her usually pale skin, a red raw colour. 

She got dressed and dried her hair as best she could without a hairdryer, deciding to leave it down.  
She dressed herself in a white blouse and black jeans, something she rarely wore or would be caught wearing. White socks accompanied her cold feet. She forewent any shoes or slippers.

Finally, she was ready for the day. Well, almost. All she needed was breakfast and to brush her teeth.   
Speaking of breakfast, she heard someone clattering around in the kitchen, most likely preparing it.  
At the thought of food, her stomach grumbled loudly, signalling she was definitely hungry today.

With that, Weiss made her way to the kitchen, instantly smelling homemade pancakes. Only Yang made pancakes for the both of them but she was surprised to find her sister working on not burning the one in the pan. A stack of the fluffy treats sat on the countertop whilst she worked on the next one.

Weiss’ stomach grumbled again, embarrassingly much louder than in the guest room. It got the older Schnee’s attention.

“When was the last time you ate something Weiss?” She asked, turning to look at the rest girl behind her. 

“Um… yesterday?” It was more of a question than an answer and Weiss berated herself in her head. 

“Don’t lie, Weiss. We both know you didn’t eat yesterday or the day before that. Probably not even the day before that too.” The voice of Yang said, followed by the appearance of said blonde.

Weiss immediately gave the brawler the dirtiest look she could in her still sleep addled mind. 

“I’m not gonna lie to your sister when all we wanna do is make sure you eat and take care of yourself.” Yang explained, shrugging her shoulders and reaching for a pancake.  
Her hand was harshly slapped away by the pale hand of Winter. 

“She’s right, you know. I just want to make sure you’re doing okay and that you are looking after your own well-being.” Winter said before Weiss could argue about it all.

Weiss grumbled under her breath but it wasn’t enough to stop winter from hearing it.  
“Weiss, you are going to eat at least four pancakes before I’ll allow you to move from the table or before we even start to plan anything.” 

“I’m not a child. I can take care of myself. And it’s not like you can stop me from moving off the table.” The younger Schnee argues back tiredly.

“Watch me, dear sister.” Was the challenging reply. 

After grumbling some more, Weiss took a seat on the breakfast table, waiting for the pancakes to be served. Which wasn’t long until they were. Yang sat down beside her, nudging her shoulder into her own, good-naturedly. 

They once again ate in silence. The food was too good to bother with small talk or any sort of talking. Winter and Yang finished well before Weiss had even eaten two.   
They both sat and waited patiently for her to finish her third one. She started to fiddle with the fourth, not feeling hungry anymore and more feeling sick.

“Weiss, I was joking about you eating four. You don’t have to. However, you do need to eat more.” Winter said, her voice surprisingly soft.

Weiss looked up and saw her older sister smiling at her. She looked to Yang and saw the same sad but oddly comforting smile as her sister. She made herself smile back at them both. 

Now it was getting awkward. A bit too awkward for the sister’s liking. Winter decided to move the plates to the dishwasher and set them inside it before wiping down the countertops and moving into the living room where Weiss and Yang had already moved to whilst she was tidying up.

They sat in silence once more. All three of them thinking of how they could start the plan on finding where Ruby was.

“What if we wait until she’s going after someone else? You know, one of her ‘targets’?” Weiss suggested after the other two didn’t speak.

The others thought about it for a moment, seeing if there could be flaws within the suggestion.  
“We would need to implement some sort of device on the potential targets. Plus we’d need to be able to get there before she kills them and then somehow catch her. Her semblance is speed and with the added abilities of her being a Reaper, it’d make it very difficult and very high risk.” Winter said after a moment, clearly thinking it through thoroughly.

“Hmm I suppose putting in any device into the homes of potential targets could be difficult. Ruby’s semblance wouldn’t be a problem for us, we’re used to her speed. We used to do exercises to see if any of us could catch her. We eventually did after learning her evasive tactics. Her being Reaper could be a problem though. Especially if she’s unstable.” The younger Schnee added on, seeing some flaws in her own idea.

“Wait. How do you know Ruby’s a Reaper?” Yang inquired, looking at Winter.

“I know a lot more than you think. I am the second in command of the Atlas Military. I also know you are a half blooded Reaper, Miss Xiao Long.” Winter answered, looking much more smug than Weiss had ever seen her be.

“Ahhh okay.” Was the simple reply.

“Anyway, back to the topic at hand.” The older Schnee said, turning back to Weiss. “The device we would use wouldn’t be a problem to put into any home but what I’m thinking is something a little unorthodox.” She explained, trailing off.

“What are you thinking?” Weiss and Yang asked simultaneously.

“Well…” she started. “Every high society member of the public has a nano-chip implanted into their throat, close to their jugular. It lets us know when their heart stops. They are suggested to have it but aren’t forced to have it implanted.” She explained, making sure the two girls understand the implementation.

“How will that help us find and catch Ruby?” Yang inquired, asking the question slowly.

“Every high society member have the best security systems. If anything is afoot, where the cameras pick up a suspicious person or somebody the cameras don’t recognise, an alarm is sent to the CCT where we pick it up. It’s how we’re able to respond as quickly as we do. Unfortunately, Miss Rose is faster than we are. Not long after the alarm is set off, the victim’s heart stops. Not long after that, Miss Rose escapes and disappears without a trace. Well, the only thing she leaves are wilting rose petals.” Came the next explanation. Weiss and Yang listened adeptly, making sure they didn’t miss anything.

“What about the security guards? Surely they must see her using her semblance or at least guard their employers closely.” Yang wondered out loud.

“Miss Rose takes them out before she goes after the main target. The cameras can’t seem to pick her up as she moves too fast for them to even register her being there. She kills the guards quickly but with scary precision. Each one are usually cut in half, the same as her main targets, from the victim's right shoulder to their left hip. Once she gains access to her main target, that’s when the cameras can pick her out, notifying us that she’s there. All cameras all over the city have been given a code to send us an alert whenever they see Miss Rose. She hasn’t been active for about a week. The cameras on private property are already coded to alert us of any intruders but she hasn’t taken anybody out for a while.”

The freezerburn duo stopped to think and process the information. It didn’t take Weiss long to put some puzzle pieces together.

“Why don’t the military place droids in every potential target's home? That way security guards are free from the risk of injury or death. Nothing gets past Atlas Military androids, not even someone with a speed semblance. We wouldn’t need to wait for the next target’s heart to stop before acting.”

“Hmmm that is a good idea to be honest. General Ironwood is desperate to take Miss Rose down.” Winter replies, half thinking her thoughts out loud.  
She saw the looks the two younger girls gave and quickly added, “General Ironwood wants Miss Rose to be caught and taken into custody to be questioned but if you two get to her before he or any of his men does, you should be able to get her out of Atlas before he catches on.”

“Okay. What about hiring Huntsmen and Huntresses to keep Ruby occupied whilst we make our way there? Hopefully she won’t kill them. The androids would be child’s play for her to begin with.” Weiss suggested again. Her brain was actually working today and she was glad for it. Maybe it was the food that had helped or maybe it was the hope of rescuing Ruby.

“That could work but no doubt she would kill them without a second thought. I wonder if…” Winter trailed off, thinking about her next idea.

“What? What is it?” the younger Schnee questioned desperately.

“What if we employed some of your schoolmates from Vale? I’m sure she would have made friends with a few people so maybe, if she’s had her memories wiped again, she would at least recognise them as friends and not enemies.” The older Schnee explained, still talking her thoughts out loud.

“Maybe. We could try it. But no one else knows what we know about Reapers and the like.” Yang said, putting her own thoughts in.

“They wouldn’t need to know it’s Miss Rose or that she is a Reaper. They would only be given intel on a murderer around Atlas and that they’ve been employed to protect the lives of high society members.” Winter interjected.

At that, they thought things through again. A few seconds turned to a few minutes which then turned into twenty minutes of silence.   
Eventually Weiss piped up. “So what exactly is the plan?”

“The plan is to assign Military Androids to potential targets as well as a few huntsmen for extra security. As soon as the droids pick up any suspicious movement or anything that looks like Miss Rose, I will be notified immediately. After that, all three of us will make our way to wherever the alert came from. If Miss Rose is there, we will try to keep her there and subdue her before any of General Ironwood’s men can intervene. If knocking Miss Rose out helps you to transport her away from the area to a secure location, knock her out. If she doesn’t comply, just knock her out if you can.” The Military Specialist explained, looking between the two girls.

“What about the secure location?” Came the obvious next question from the blonde.

“I have a safe house that is practically central to many of the high society homes. It’s underground and very secure. One way in, two ways out. Biometric and Optical Scanners enable me to go in and out as I please. It would help to keep someone in as well.” 

“Cool. Looks like we have a decent plan that might actually work.” Yang said absentmindedly.

Weiss threw a glare at the blonde but she didn’t notice. 

With the plan done, all three prepared for the coming fight. Hopefully it would be soon so they could rescue their leader.  
Winter soon left the apartment to go to work early, leaving the Freezerburn duo to their own devices.  
Yang decided to go back to bed whilst Weiss decided to try and read one of many books in the small library-come-study. Eventually getting lost in the story she was reading, thus losing the sense of time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully you all found that to be satisfactory for a chapter before shit starts hitting the fan. That’s if it does. But as you can probably tell, I’m building it up slowly again. So who knows when shits about to go down.  
> On another note, Kumu, please don’t ask me ‘are we there yet?’ XD I know you will but still.
> 
> Anyways, until next time, happy reading! :)


	28. Assignment to Kill Her

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby, or rather Crimson, is given a new assignment. Will she kill her next target or will memories resurface and stop her from doing the deed?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hewwo my lovely readers.  
> Another week and another chapter. Well, it’s not exactly a week is it? XD  
> Anywho, I really hope you all enjoy the new chapter and I really do understand how much the suspense is killing most of you. It’s driving me nuts even though I’m the one that led writing it. (Probably because I keep winging the chapters and I haven’t a clue what’ll happen in the next chapter until I start writing it xD)  
> Anyways, please enjoy before I start giving too much away in the story. Don’t forget, Happy Reading! :)
> 
> Note for AO3 users: Unfortunately, I don’t know how to put some words into Italics or bold or whatever else on here. It should read alright to read but it’d read better on Wattpad. It shouldn’t matter either way. It’s the same story regardless. :D

It had been three days since Weiss and Yang had arrived in Atlas but it wasn’t something Crimson had knowledge of. She didn’t even know she had teammates coming for her, let alone to rescue her from the SDC CEO. The only things she knew were the things she’d been told. Lies and misconceptions but she didn’t even know she’d been lied to. The young Reaper did have a feeling she was being lied to but she always chose to keep quiet about it all.

She’d not long ago received word of a new assignment after not having one for over a week. It was a huge relief on her part as she’d been bored with having nothing to do. Well, she had training to do but that got boring after awhile. 

The young faunus was currently on her way to the Master’s office to retrieve the assignment. Humming and walking with a skip in her step she soon arrived, knocked twice and waited.  
A “come in” sounded on the other side of the door.  
After entering, she closed the door with a click and saluted the white-haired man. He didn’t salute back. 

“I have another assignment for you, Sergeant First Class. It is another assassination contract. This one is rather….personal.” Jacques said, pulling out a folder from a side drawer on his desk. 

He slid it over to Crimson’s side of the desk and motioned for her to pick it up. She did and opened it. It was a small folder with a small amount of information in it. Of course there was a photo of her newest target. 

“Sir…” she began, recognising something within the photo.

“What is it?” the man in question asked, looking up from his never ending paperwork.

“The new target…” she trailed off, nervous of what the Master would say.

“What of it? Do you have a problem with it?” Came the next few questions from the Schnee.

Crimson stayed silent for a moment, thinking of a way she could voice her thoughts without angering the Master. 

‘Kiiiillll.’ It was that damned chalky voice again. She hated it, but it told her truths where no one else would. It helped her to survive during the most violent assignments. ‘Kiiiillll the taaaarget.’ 

She shook her head to clear her thoughts and finally spoke. “No, Sir. The target will be taken out tonight.” Her voice was like a sharpened knife. Deadly and ready to kill.

“Good. You may go.” Jacques said, eyeing the young faunus warily.  
Her eyes were bloodshot and there were small black veins sprouting and spreading just below her eyes.

Crimson turned to leave but before she did, Jacques spoke up. “Crimson, take a capsule before you set off for your assignment.”

Stopping with her hand on the handle, she turned her head to look at him in the corner of her eye. “Yes, Sir.”

At that, she exited the office and went to her designated room, keeping the folder tucked under her arm.  
Sitting on her bed, she opened the folder once again and started reading through it, glancing at the photograph of her target every so often.

Contract assigned to: Crimson, Sergeant First Class  
Target name: Classified/Unknown  
Assignment type: Assassination. (Permission to take out anyone else that gets involved)

Assignment details: Target has been located to the south of Atlas in an apartment building. Top floor. Entered Atlas three days prior with another girl (see secondary photograph). Take out the target when the night is almost silent. Do not engage until certain the target and their accomplice are asleep.  
Main target will be in the first guest bedroom whilst the secondary target will be in the second guest bedroom. Take out both quickly and quietly. (Attach silencer to handgun). 

Target is a threat to the SS Program and the life of the Master. Target must be taken out as soon as possible. Failure to do so will result in dire consequences. Failure of the assignment will inhibit the sanction of death or trait removal.

Note: Third inhabitant is not to be killed. Subdue but do not take their life. This will result in a sanction of a severe punishment of 150 lashes/ trait removal.

Crimson read the file over and over again. Trying to think of where she’d seen the two people in the photographs. She couldn’t place them, but knew she’d seen them before. 

‘Friends.’ A soft, angelic voice in her head said.

‘Noooo. Enemyyyy. Kiiiill.’ Came the chalkboard voice, counteracting the gentle voice. 

The young faunus could swear she’s going insane. Two different voices in her head that were always arguing about what she should and shouldn’t do. It was tiring but she never listened to the nice voice. It never helped her in battle and almost got her killed a few times. It was careless, whereas the chalky voice had helped her to survive.

‘No! Friends. Don’t kill.’ The angel's voice said again.

“Shut up.” The young Reaper growled.  
The voices stopped. She’d at least have some peace and quiet before her assignment.  
She still needed to get a capsule of the black goo they used on everyone in the facility.

Putting down the folder, she stood up and headed for the medical wing to get her capsule shot. 

Some time later and she was ready. Ready to end the life of her newest target. The young Reaper didn’t know how she’d do it as the blueprints of the apartment layout weren't included, plus there weren’t any details on the cameras or anything else she could use to make it easier to take out her target. This assignment was going to be hard but she knew she could do it.

Checking she had everything, she made her way to the technology centre and picked up the location device and her beloved Infernal Rose and Thorn. She then made her way to the facility exit.  
It was basically a mix between a train and an elevator that took ten minutes to ascend to ground level, stopping in a completely different building.

Exiting the building after the boring ride up, Crimson checked everything again, finding she’d forgotten the silencer for her pistol.  
She couldn’t go back now. It would take too long to do so and it was almost midnight. 

The young Reaper slowly made her way to the target’s location, trying and failing to avoid all of the cameras spread out across the city. Surprisingly, Atlas Military has installed brand news ones in the alleyways she often used to get to and from other assignments.  
She paid no mind to them and kept going. 

The young faunus should have paid attention to them but she didn’t know about the plan of a certain group of three. 

——————————————————————————

Beep beep beep beep beep

“Weiss, Yang. We have a hit!” Winter yelled from the living room. 

Said girls came running in, almost tripping over each other. They came across the older Schnee sister typing away on a large scroll.  
“Look.” She simply said, motioning to the screen where a series of smaller screens were showing camera feeds from the middle of the large city.

The Freezerburn pair stepped over and stared intently at the scroll, looking between the camera feeds. 

“There!” Yang said a little too loudly, earning her a small glare from the younger Schnee.  
She pointed at the bottom right corner where a figure clad in a red-hooded cloak slowly walked up a deserted alleyway, carrying a deadly-looking scythe.

They continued to watch the figure until finally, they disappeared from sight, leaving what looked to be rose petals floating through the air.

Winter immediately started tapping through the different camera feeds, looking for any trace of the red-cloaked girl.  
Ten minutes past before Weiss pointed out the unmistakable red cloak on the middle screen. 

“Why is she in South Atlas?” Winter questioned quietly. Then it hit her.

The red-cloaked faunus was coming for them.

“She’s coming for us.” She whispered. Both Yang and Weiss looked at her with questioning expressions.

“What was that?” Yang inquired, having clearly not heard the older woman.

“She’s coming for us!” Now Winter looked like she was about to panic. It didn’t last long as she began to call out orders. “Get your weapons, turn every single light off and prepare for a fight. Don’t hesitate whatever you do. She’s here to kill us.”

“Right!” The white and yellow pair shouted as they ran back to their rooms for their weapons, turning the lights off as they went.

——————————————————————————

Crimson had no idea how she was going to get into the apartment complex. Well, she did have an idea but that was too risky. Scaling the building wasn’t exactly the safest option but it’s not like she could just knock on the front door and say ‘Hello, I’m your killer, may I come in?’  
That would be ridiculous on her part. Plus, she’d have a witness and she couldn’t risk that person seeing her face.

Walking around the building, she looked up and saw all of the lights off in the top floor apartment.  
‘Maybe I should wait a little before going in.’ The young Reaper thought, eyeing the building.  
‘Hmm by the time I’ve scaled it, that should be enough time to wait.’ 

Keeping an eye out for any hidden cameras, she was halfway around and spotted an open window on the top floor. A ladder and a few cases of stairs, thankfully, followed up close to the opening. The young Reaper took that as her queue to start her mission proper.  
Unfortunately, the light was still on.  
She still started her climb up as silently as she could and then waited on the second to last landing for the light to go off. It did, but she decided to wait a little longer. 

But then it hit her, if the lights were going off at this time of night and if there were several brand new cameras in the city, including down the alleyways that had facial recognition and tracking; that meant she’d been set up. They knew she was coming. She needed to act fast.

——————————————————————————

After retrieving her weapon, Weiss turned on her heel and switched the light off, then heard a fluttering by the window.  
Turning, she saw that she’d left the window open. Probably not the best idea to leave it open. So, she walked over to it, pulled the flapping drapes back in and almost had a heart attack when a cloak-clad figure appeared in front of her. 

They stared at one another for what seemed like hours. Weiss staring in shock whilst Crimson stared in realisation. Her target standing right in front of her.

A sadistic grin instantly spread across her face, making Weiss step back; fear crawling its way into her being.

The white-haired didn’t know what to do even though they’d planned to subdue the young Reaper but it wasn’t a part of the plan where she’d turn up at Winter’s apartment.

The former heiress took another step back, trying so hard not to turn and run. She wanted to shout out that her partner was in her temporary room. She wanted to get the other’s attention but she couldn’t. The words were stuck in her throat, clogging up her airways. 

As she took another step backwards, the young faunus disappeared in a flurry of wilted rose petals.  
Weiss knew exactly where she’d reappear and swiftly turned on her heel to find Ruby exactly where she predicted she’d be: behind her by the door. Her only way to get help was now blocked by the person she loved and feared most.

“R...Ruby-“ Weiss tried gently, being interrupted by the young Reaper brandishing a much smaller scythe than she remembered in the air.  
‘Shit…’ she thought, beginning to see memories of her and her partner flash before her eyes.

Shaking her head, she recomposed herself as much as she could, raising Myrtenaster in a defensive position.

The young Reaper eyed the weapon before her eyes flirted over to the white-haired girl and then back to the rapier.

“So you’re a huntress. Contract didn’t say anything about you being a huntress.” Crimson said, her voice gruff and sounding deadlier than Weiss had ever heard.  
A shiver ran down her spine; the memories of a nightmare flowing through her mind. Weiss didn’t say anything back and just stared at the younger girl.

“Being ignored isn’t something I appreciate. You may as well speak your last words. You’re about to become mince meat.” She said, a malicious, blood-thirsty grin sprouting on her face. Weiss could only see her mouth but the fangs she saw were definitely bigger than they used to be.  
“Well? You gonna keep ignoring me?” Crimson questioned, starting to lose her patience.

“I...Ruby. It...It’s me, Weiss…” the white-haired girl said, quietly. 

“Who the fuck is Ruby? Whoever that is, I’m not her.” Crimson growled low, position Infernal Rose pointing outwards.  
Weiss’ heart shattered. Ruby didn’t recognise her. She didn’t even know her name. 

“Ruby, please! It’s me, Weiss Schnee! The Ice Queen from Beacon Academy. We used to get into arguments over stupid things like...like you eating cookies on your bed. We met after...after we bumped into each other on the first day of school! Ruby please!” Weiss began to plead, backing up towards the window as her partner took a step forward.

Weiss really didn’t want to fight her. She knew Ruby or whoever this person was, was much deadlier than the girl from Beacon Academy.

‘Ruby!’ It was that soft, angelic voice again. This time, it shouted another name. A name she didn’t know but recognised. The angelic voice sounded so familiar even when shouting someone else’s name. It sounded so familiar, yet so foreign now that she thought about it.

“Ruby!” The voice sounded out again. No, it wasn’t the voice in her head this time. It was the girl in front of her. “Ruby, please stop. This isn’t you!” 

With all the shouting, Yang and Winter had finally figured out that Weiss was in trouble. They flipped the light on. Weiss’ teary eyes flickered to the pair standing just outside the doorway. The look she gave told them not to get involved or say anything. They nodded in understanding and stayed back with the weapons ready; just in case Ruby decided to try and kill Weiss.

Crimson stopped in place, holding Infernal Rose off to the side. The malicious smile was gone and in its place was a frown on her lips. She flipped her hood down, revealing much longer red-tipped black hair, bloodshot crimson red eyes and a paler complexion than before. Small, black veins roped their way down her cheeks like miniature streams of water. She looked like hell.

“Do I know you from somewhere? Your voice...it’s the same as the one in my head. And your last name. Schnee. Have you been to the facility?” There was uncertainty in her voice and in her eyes. Crimson swears she’s seen this girl before.  
With that last thought, memories exploded into existence in her head.  
Flits of a memory in a cave with the white-haired beauty came about, then it quickly changed to the younger girl pinning Weiss to the floor with a screwdriver in her hand, pointed at her throat. Then came the moment they met and after that, becoming partners in a forest. The school. The headmaster. The moment she became team leader to team RWBY. Yang and Blake. The plan to capture someone. To capture the Minotaur. The warmth she felt every time she looked at the white-haired girl. Blake’s betrayal and her own abduction. And finally, the first time she met the Master in the metal chair. 

Jacques Schnee had lied to her and so had everyone else she thought she knew. Jacques Schnee wanted her to kill his own daughter! What sort of father does that!? Jacques Schnee, evidently.

A searing pain suddenly enveloped her head. Throwing her off balance and making her drop her weapon.

“Ruby…?” Came Weiss’ voice. So soft and angelic, just like the voice in her head. 

The chalky voice started speaking. It was low and quiet at first. Growing in volume. ‘Killll. Killl them. Take theirrr livesss. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill!’ It chanted maliciously.

The young faunus collapsed, holding her head between her arms, rocking back and forth to try and get rid of the horrible, misleading voice.

“Ruby, it...it’s okay.” Weiss said, edging closer to the distressed girl. She reached a hand out to place it on the younger girl’s shoulder.

Instantly, Ruby’s head whipped up, looking directly into teary blue pools. “We...Weiss…” she said softly.  
Before she knew it, anger rose throughout her body; engulfing her heart, mind and soul.  
The young Reaper picked up her weapon, pushed the white-haired girl out of the way, stood and bolted out of the window before anyone could stop her; leaving blackened rose petals floating through the air.

“Ruby!” Weiss shouted after her, running to the window to see where she went. She whirled around to see Winter and Yang hurry into the room and look out the window as well.  
“We have to go after her!” She shouted at her sister. 

“Agreed but we don’t know where she’s going!” Winter shouted back, unintentionally.

“Errr, guys...We could chase her using the camera system. It’s all live so we could follow her that way. I doubt she’s going to be avoiding them in her state of mind.” Yang said, surprisingly calm considering the situation.

“That’s true. I’ll check the tablet scroll.” Winter stated, moving out of the room and back into the living room with the Freezerburn pair following closely.

Beep beep beep beep beep beep beep beep

“She’s not too far away, we can still catch up.” The older Schnee said, looking between the camera feeds. “Make sure you have extra dust and rounds.”

“Winter, we don’t have time for that. If we don’t follow her now, we’ll lose her in the city!” Weiss said, hurrying towards the door, weapon in hand.

With that, they set off to follow the young Reaper through Atlas, hoping to find out where the facility she spoke of was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that marks the end of chapter 28. I don’t think there will be many more chapters to go until the end. Don’t ask me how many more because even I haven’t a clue. (Even though I should XD)  
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please let me know of any errors or inconsistencies within the chapter.  
> Surprising how it didn’t take me a month to write this chapter unlike a lot of the others haha 😂  
> But yeah, see you all again soon. I already have a good idea for the next chapter. Shouldn’t be too hard to gather what it is :D  
> Bye byeee and Happy Reading! :)


	29. Liar, Liar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby has bolted from Winter’s apartment after remembering everything. She faces off with Jacques. Will the SDC CEO get what he deserves or will he get off scott free and escape?
> 
> Also, Winter, Yang and Weiss follow Ruby to the facility and fight their way through before a certain cat faunus appears and Weiss looks for Ruby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeeey my lovely readers. Thought I’d give you this early. Im just really excited about what you’ll all think of this chapter and the chapters after it.  
> The end of this story is very close. There’ll be around another 3, maybe 4 chapters.  
> After that, I have a surprise for you all.  
> Anyways, I hope you all enjoy. Please do comment and let me know what you think.  
> See you at the end. Don’t forget, Happy Reading! :)

Crimson, Ruby or whoever she really was, sped through the middle of the large city as fast as her legs and semblance would go. Her aura was beginning to fizzle out with how fast she was going and she needed to stop to catch her breath; but the anger within her was at a boiling point as she really didn’t want to take it out on an innocent bystander. The only people she wanted to take it out on were the ones that had lied to her and taken her away from her friends. Her team. Her family.

The exhaustion won against the anger after another few moments of racing through the city. She stopped and bent forwards, trying to catch her breath. She felt sick. Who would kidnap a child and are her memories? Who would take a child and try to turn them into a weapon for an unstoppable army? Someone who craved power, that’s who.  
The thoughts of Jacques Schnee abducting all of the children and teenagers that were in the facility made her feel even more sick. Bile rose in her throat and she vomited. But it wasn’t what she’d eaten that evening. It wasn’t bile or anything that resembled vomit. It was black, goopy liquid that moved and oozed over the pavement.  
More and more came up and she couldn’t stop it. Not until she fell to her knees, weakened by the sudden onslaught of nausea and dizziness.  
She tried to breathe as much air as she could. It felt like someone was squeezing her lungs. She felt another surge of the black goop rise in her throat and bent forwards to spill it over the pavement.

Nothing came out. Well, it did but it didn’t splash on the ground like she expected. Instead, it clung to her chin and began to move down her neck. She felt warm, sticky fluid run from her eyes. With a shaking hand she reached up and felt just under her right eye. Pulling it away, panic finally began to set it as the same black goop caked her hand.  
The young faunus felt the need to vomit once more but nothing came out and once again, the black fluid ran down her chin and began to engulf her arm.  
Pain. So much pain ebbed its way onto her face. It was unbearable. She screamed and held her face where bone began to grow. Bone that resembled that of a creature of Grimm.

The screaming soon stopped, a malicious, murderous smile replacing the look of anguish. 

“Ruby!” A voice called from the end of the alleyway she was in.

Her head whipped around to the source of the voice, finding her old teammates and another woman. Even though she felt like killing everything she saw, she didn’t want to cause any harm to the two people she cared for most. So, she painfully stood and activated her semblance, trying to get away before she did something she’d forever regret.

In her mind whilst she ran, she fought against the growing murderous intent. She fought hard against the dark voice spouting nonsense in her mind. It was getting louder and harder to resist the urge to slaughter the innocent. 

Thankfully, she arrived back at the facility entrance but she didn’t stop to wait for the elevator and bolted down into its depths. Her aura was almost gone but the Grimm energy within her body grew ever stronger, enveloping her body and soul.

The young Reaper didn’t stop in the halls and raced straight to the Schnee’s office, hoping he was there so she could get answers and then kill him if she didn’t like what he said.

Thankfully, she’d remembered to pick up her weapon before she bolted from the alleyway. She pressed a button to release the stored fire dust into the blade. It exploded into flames as she flew through the facility's stark white halls.  
Finally, she arrived at the Master’s’ office door and instantly cut it in half, the frame bursting into a blaze.

Whilst the young Reaper flitted through the facility, the amount of wind force she created blew so many SS program members onto their backs or against the walls. They were so confused on what was happening. 

Before they all knew it, an alarm began to blare out through hidden speakers. They all knew what the alarm met, especially this high pitched whine.  
Intruders were entering the training facility. Whilst a crazed Ruby glared maliciously at Jacques Schnee, everyone in the facility grabbed their weapons and got into their defensive and offensive positions to protect the secretive building.

“YOU LIED TO ME! YOU SAID I’D BEEN IN AN ACCIDENT AND YOU SAVED ME! YOU’RE A LIAR JACQUES SCHNEE! YOU TOOK ME AWAY FROM MY FRIENDS, FROM MY FAMILY AND FROM WEISS! YOU SENT ME TO KILL HER! YOU'RE OWN DAUGHTER!” Ruby roared in the face of the older Schnee, brandishing Infernal Rose. 

The sadistic man simply grinned smugly and said, “I wondered how long it would take you to finally snap.”

“SHUT! UP!” She bellowed, grabbing the white-haired man by the front of his shirt with her free hand and slamming him as hard as she could into the wall behind him.

“YOU KILLED MY MOTHER! YOU TOOK ME AWAY FROM MY FAMILY! WHY!? WHAT DO YOU GAIN FROM ALL OF THIS!?” She roared again, her anger barely being contained. It was getting harder and harder to control it and black goop still continued to envelop her right hand side. The bone on her face continued to grow, beginning to cover the left side of her face. 

“It’s simple really. You can’t be that stupid to not realise what I’ve been after all this time. To gain power and rule not just Atlas, but the world.” Jacques said, way too calm for the situation he was currently in.

“THAT’S BULLSHIT!” At that, the young Reaper's mind snapped completely. The anger and hatred rose to new heights, consuming her entire soul.  
She couldn’t stop herself from doing something she would most likely regret but she did it anyway.

Grabbing the white-haired man’s throat, she squeezed as hard as she could, all the while growling like a rabid animal. 

The CEO’s eyes rolled into the back of his head as the amount of air became restricted. He began to grab at her hand, trying to pull it away to breath fresh air. His face turned purple and his eyes turned bloodshot, bulging out of their sockets.  
Ruby or whoever she was now, squeezed harder: the sound of a windpipe being crushed seemed to echo throughout the facility.  
She roared in victory and dropped the corpse of Jacques Schnee.

All the noise she was making attracted the attention of none other than the Minotaur. “Sir, we’re under-“ he stopped dead and stared at the rogue Reaper, his eyes flitting to the corpse slumped against the wall and then back to Ruby. “What have you done?” He said quietly, drawing Wilt from its sheath.

“He lied. He lied to me. To everyone.” She growled out. It was a wonder how she was still able to speak with her mind all scrambled.

“Stand down. Stand down or I’ll be forced to make you stand down.” The Minotaur warned, readying himself in an offensive stance.

The rogue Reaper simply smiled a murderous smile, showing off sharper and longer canines. The growing bone had become a half Grimm mask, the red lines of Beowolf’s armoured face travelling down it. Her left arm had shifted into something that resembled that of a Beowolf’s arm, her claws staggeringly longer and sharper.

“Stand down Sergeant First Class!” He shouted, giving her one last warning.

Her smile grew impossibly wider as she raised Infernal Rose.  
Before Adam Taurus could blink, the rogue Reaper disappeared in a flurry of blackened, wilted rose petals. He knew she’d appear behind him. He turned quickly to block an attack but she wasn’t there. More rose petals floated to the ground.

One vague memory resurfaced in her mind. The young Reaper remembered how they thought she was completely unconscious when they abducted her. She couldn’t move or make a sound but she could just about see the moment Adam Taurus took Yang’s arm. She could just about remember the scream Yang let out before falling unconscious. It enraged her more than it had when her cousin had been so severely injured.

The Minotaur knew where the rogue Reaper would reappear every time she disappeared but when he turned to block, she wasn’t there. She was messing with him. Tormenting him. He had no idea why Jacques Schnee wanted a full-blooded Reaper in the first place. The research put in only ever gave them the conclusion that Ruby Rose would one day snap and begin her transformation into a Grimm. It seemed something had happened and she’d begun her transformation sooner than anyone thought.

A humourless chuckle sounded out behind him, he turned to face it. A flaming scythe flew towards his face but as he raised Wilt to block the attack, it disappeared. A searing pain flew up his legs. He yelled out from the pain.

Ruby had bluffed an attack to make the bull faunus try to block. In his distraction, she flew behind him and easily sliced through a pair of legs like they were made of butter. As he screamed, she kicked out against his back. The older faunus fell forwards onto his face, still screaming. 

Walking over to the wounded man, she bent down and placed Thorn against his head.  
He stopped screaming in an instant, his eyes widening. He was going to die. He wasn’t going to be able to get equal rights for his people because of a traitorous, rogue Reaper.

“You’re so lucky I don’t kill you. I’m going to let you live so you can suffer for the rest of your life.” The young Reaper said, her voice gravelly and dangerous. It sounded just like the chalkboard voice she usually heard in her head.

With that, she lifted Thorn and swung down against Adam’s head, knocking him unconscious. 

She stood and looked around. She saw the legs of the bull faunus and laughed humourlessly. 

“Down here!” She heard someone shouting in the hall. Well, there were many people shouting in the halls. The alarm was still blaring but she barely noticed it.  
As footsteps grew closer, she took her leave in a flurry of rose petals. The hatred and anger within her soul wanted her to kill everyone that she came across. So she did just that; slicing right through the people in the hallway as she left.

The leaders of the SS Program will wish they’d never fucked with her. That they’d never abducted her and they’d wish they’d never been born.

—————————————————————

“Sir! We need backup! I and two others have found an illegal research facility but we cannot get in without backup! We believe the Crimson Reaper is in there!” Winter yelled into her scroll, starting to become impatient.

“Are you sure she’s in there? I can’t give the order for reinforcements if she isn’t. I need a proper confirmation. I cannot risk the lives of my men without full confirmation.” Came the voice of the Atlas Military General. 

Weiss and Yant were nearby and listening to the conversation. It seemed Weiss was also becoming impatient as she non-gracefully snatched the scroll out of Winter’s hand.

“With all due respect General Ironwood, we saw her go into the illegal research facility. We’ve been following her after she broke into Winter’s apartment to kill us. Please just send reinforcements so we can find her!” She said, trying not to sound frustrated. 

“What about the amount of enemies there are? What about the layout of this facility? I cannot send my men in without knowing these basic things. I’m sorry, but I cannot risk the lives of my men. You’re on your own for this. Find the Crimson Reaper and take her down before she causes anymore damage and takes anymore lives.”

“Fine. Thanks for not hel-“ Weiss said, beginning a sarcastic retort before Winter took the scroll back off of her.

“Sorry about that, General. We will do our best without reinforcements.” The older Schnee said down the scroll before hanging up the call before turning to her sister. “If you don’t want the General to take custody of her, one of you two will have to find Ruby. If I find her, I will have to take her out or subdue her and take her on. The General will question me on why I didn’t take her into custody.” She explained as she readied herself for battle.

“Right. We’ll look for her whilst you try to find father. If General Ironwood gets his hands on her, he’ll probably use her abilities for his gains just like father.” The younger Schnee explained, gaining an insulted glare from her sister.

“We should get going. Gods knows what’s happening down there right now. Especially if Ruby’s going crazy.” Yang said, interrupting the Schnee’s from their glaring.

“But there's guards by the door. How are we supposed to get through without being caught?” Weiss inquired, looking between the two.

“Who said anything about going in quietly? You can still summon your knight right?” Yang asked.

“Yes, I can. Why?” Now Weiss was curious to see what the blonde could come up with.

“We could use his size and brute strength to push through.” The blonde replied, hand on her chin in thought.

“Hmm, I don’t know if that’ll work. I can only summon him for a short time. Timing is drastically lowered when I use other glyphs on top.” Weiss was also thinking of a way to push through.

“Are you forgetting I can summon as well. Plus, we have time dilation. Put those two together and we could get through quite easily.” Winter said, interrupting the two.

Both stayed silent for a moment. 

“It’s the only plan we have. We’ll have to go with it. Just, I won’t be able to keep my knight out for long if I’m using time dilation glyphs at the same time.” The younger Schnee finally said, looking at Yang who gave a nod.

With that, the three got into position and the two Schnee’s (Schneesters xD) summoned their Grimm. Weiss summoning the giant white knight and Winter summoning an array of bright white Grimm; two Beowolves, a miniature deathstalker and a small flock of tiny Nevermore. 

Next they created time glyphs; Weiss’ aura already beginning to drain.  
They activated them and off they went at speeds rivalling the old Ruby’s semblance.  
All three pushed through in no time, subduing anyone they came across. Luckily, there weren’t as many people as they thought.

The three now stood at the top of what looked to be an elevator dug into the ground that went several feet under.

“Come on. Ruby’s in there.” Yang said, walking forwards.

“It’s faster to use time dilation.” Winter said coolly, creating another time glyph with Weiss following suit.  
They let their summons fade away so they could go faster, Weiss feeling relieved at not having to use two different types of glyphs. They flew down the elevator shaft and arrived in a stark, white hallway. Several young faunus with different weapons stood in offensive and defensive stances. 

“Shit.” Yang remarked, getting into her own offensive stance.

“You can say that again.” Weiss said quietly, pointing Myrtenaster upwards. A glyph appeared under the faunus in the hallway. 

Before they all knew it, half of them were encased in ice. Winter looked to her younger sister with pride in her eyes. “Good work but I’ll take it from here. I’ll create an opening for you to be able to get further in.” 

The Freezerburn pair looked to one another, a smile creeping across their faces.  
“No need.” Yang said smugly.

Weiss immediately created more glyphs along the floor, replacing them with a thin layer of ice a second later. Yang jumped up, cocking her weapon to load a fire dust round. As soon as she landed, she punched the ground, firing off the round.  
Instantly, the hallway was engulfed in a thick mist.  
The three took that as their cue to fly down the hall with Winter’s time dilation. 

They arrived in another hallway. It wasn’t white like the one they’d just been in. Corpses littered the floor, the walls covered in their blood. 

A rabid roar made them all jump. 

Yang looked back and saw someone she hadn’t seen for months.

“Blake…” she whispered. 

Stood in the bloodied hallway was Blake, former teammate of team RWBY. Anger and hatred soon rose in Yang. She cocked Ember Celica again and fired off a few rounds, flying towards the traitor.

“Yang!” Weiss called after her. It fell on deaf ears as the blonde and Blake disappeared down another hallway.

“I’m going to find father. You look for Ruby.” Winter said, walking off down the corpse covered hall.

“Right.” The younger Schnee simply said before turning around and backtracking, following the trail of bodies and blood.

It should have taken her a while to find her partner. But it didn't.  
Ruby Rose was currently cutting down three faunus in another hall; their blood spattering against the walls and floor before they fell, their eyes dull and lifeless.

“Ruby!” She called out. 

The rogue Reaper turned to face her. What she saw will forever plague her dreams. Whether it be day or night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oofy, Jacques really did get what he deserved huh? Hmm so did Adam tbh. I didn’t want to kill him off as he’ll be of use at some point.  
> When this story is finished, I’ll tell you all the great news. 
> 
> Anyways, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. It was easy but hard to write at the same time. I wrote it in a day. I also wrote out chapters 30 and 31 but they won’t be getting posted for a few days. But they will be getting posted more or less at the same time.  
> Chapter 30 is a Bumblebee chapter. Yang is pissed but Blake doesn’t want to fight back. Anyways, imma stop talking now so I don’t give too much away xD  
> See you guys in around 4 or 5 days and happy reading :)


	30. Traitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yang follows Blake through the facility hallways until she finally stops in the training arena.  
> The Dragon VS the Black Cat.   
> Will Blake fight back? Or will she go onto the defensive and avoid hurting her former partner?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again everyone! It’s been a whole week since I last updated. I thought I’d make you all wait for this chapter, but it’s not just going to be this chapter I post today. That’s right, double update! This one is Bumblebee and the next Whiterose. There will only be about an hours between the updates as I need to fix something in the Whiterose chapter. Anyways, please enjoy and if you’re not a Bumblebee fan, don’t read it but it is kinda essential to the story.  
> On with the chapter!

Yang, Weiss and Winter arrive in another hallway after the Freezerburn pair had created a thick mist. 

A rabid roar made them all jump. It sounded like it came from another hall.

Yang looked back and saw someone she hadn’t seen for months.

“Blake…” she whispered. 

Stood in the bloodied hallway was Blake, former teammate of team RWBY. Anger and hatred soon rose in Yang. She cocked Ember Celica again and fired off a few rounds, flying towards the traitor.

“Yang!” The blonde heard Weiss yell. She ignored her and chased the raven-haired traitor into another part of the building.

Every hallway looked the same. The facility seemed to be huge for an underground secret research building.

“Come back here! Stop running like you always do Blake!” Yang shouted as she chased after the cat faunus.

The brawler had no idea where they were going. Blake suddenly stopped and turned to face the charging blonde. Yang took that opportunity to strike out with as much force as she could muster.  
She didn’t get the hit as Blake used her semblance, creating a shadow to take the hit for her. Fortunately, Yang knew Blake’s way of fighting and soon used her newer fighting style to corner the raven-haired girl.

“Why? Why did you betray us? We were your team! Your family! Why Blake!” Yang tried to keep calm but she couldn’t help shouting out her questions, the rage boiling her blood.

Whilst the blonde was distracted, Blake struck out with her foot, knocking the brawler back so she could slip past and knock Yang into the wall.

The blonde swiftly turned after recovering quickly. “Tell me why you betrayed us Blake! TEL ME!” She roared, lunging at the cat faunus who dodged with ease, using her semblance to take the hit.

“I had no choice!” Blake yelled back, narrowly dodging another fist.

“THAT’S BULLSHIT AND YOU KNOW IT!!” The blonde roared back, her semblance almost activating. She held it back.

Yang didn’t fight to full capacity when she was enraged, always making it easier for her enemies to defeat her. But Blake wasn’t going to press that advantage. For as much shit she’d caused and as much heartbreak she’d given the blonde, she didn’t want to hurt her as much as she already had. So, she stuck to dodging and blocking, staying quiet and only striking out with her legs and elbows.

Yang struck out again, going for a new combination that Blake had no idea about and finally got a few hits on her.   
The cat faunus stumbled back, holding her nose, trying to keep the blood from spilling everywhere.   
Yang threw out a roundhouse kick, just barely missing the faunus. She followed up with a sidekick, Blake dodging whilst holding her nose. 

It seemed the blonde was getting angrier every time she missed her mark. So, instead of carrying on with the close ranged attacks, she jumped back and opened fire on the raven-haired traitor, luring her to the left, exactly where she wanted her.

Blake took the bait and Yang made her move; blasting forwards and plowing straight into the faunus. They both fell to the floor in a painful heap. 

Yang immediately got up and straddled Blake, making sure to throw her weapons to the side.  
The cat faunus was too surprised to block the hard punches barrelling towards her face. 

“Why did you leave!? Why did you betray us!? Why did you betray me!? Tell me why!? TELL! ME!” Yang bellowed, each word being punctuated by a hit to Blake’s face.

In just a minute, her nose was bleeding even more, she was sure her jaw was broken and she’d definitely have very bad black eyes. She finally found the initiative to raise her arms to cover her face, trying desperately to block the barrage of fists.

“Yang…” she whispered through her arms.  
Yang didn’t hear her, the deadly fists hitting her arms painfully.

“Why!? Why!? Why!? Why!? Whyyy!?” The blonde repeated every time her a fist connected to quickly bruising arms.

“Yang! S...stop! Ple...please!” Blake cried out, everything finally beginning to hurt. Tears streaming down her face. Her arms were going numb and her face hurt so much. She was surprised she could even talk.

“Tell me why then!” Came the yelled reply and another fist to the side of the faunus’ head.

“I...I had n...no choice!” She shouted back, now trying to stay conscious.

The brawlers' fists stopped coming down on her. She chanced a glance through her arms at the blonde. Her eyes were pure red but she was crying; tears flowing freely, staining her cheeks.  
“What…what do you mean?” Yang questioned, calming down ever so slightly.

“Adam. He said...he said he would kill everyone I care for if I didn’t do what he said. He said he would ma...make you all suffer if I did...didn’t give him information and help him take Ru...Ruby. I had no choice! Please believe me.” Blake explained, crying harder than when Yang was pummelling her face.

As sobs wracked her body, Yang took her trembling arms from her head to look her in the eyes.   
The blonde could see she was telling the truth in her teary eyes. She could see the raven-haired girl regretted her actions. She could understand that the cat faunus truly did care. The blonde understood that she wouldn’t have had the choice unless she wanted her friends dead. 

“Please believe me. I’m sorry. I am so, so sorry Yang. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt, I didn’t mean for you to lose your arm. I...I wanted, so wanted to turn back and help you but he...he made me keep going. I didn’t mean for you and Weiss to suffer. I didn’t mean for Ruby to become someone she isn’t and hurt so many others. Please forgive me, Yang. I’m sorry.” Blake begged, crying so hard her eyes were beginning to dry up, her face hurting more than ever.

Yang’s heartstrings were being pulled and she couldn’t help to instantly forgive the raven-haired girl. She had betrayed them to protect them and undoubtedly had chosen to stay in the facility to make sure Ruby stayed as safe as possible. 

Moving down onto Blake’s hips, she pulled the begging girl up and wrapped her arms around her, holding her tightly.   
“Shhh...it’s okay Blake. I...I forgive you. I understand why you did it and I can see how sorry you are. I would’ve done the same thing. I forgive you. Shhhh.” She whispered into one of Blake’s cat ears, rubbing the other one gently in a comforting manner.

It only made Blake cry harder. How easily the blonde could forgive her even after everything she had done. How could the brawler forgive her betrayal so easily?

The Bumblebee pair stayed there for quite a while. Yang whispering sweet nothings into Blake’s ear. Eventually, they both calmed down enough to move. They didn’t want to, however, but they did need to.

“Uh Yang?” Blake whispered, her voice hoarse from crying.

“Yeah?” Came the reply

“Um…my legs have gone a little numb. Could you...um...get up? Please? She responded awkwardly. 

“Er yeah. Yeah sorry.” The blonde said, standing up. “Do you...do you need help getting up?” 

“Pl...please?” 

With that, Yang carefully held onto Blake’s arms and lifted her to her feet. “AHHH!” The cat faunus yelled out, pain searing through her arms where Yang had hit them.

“Shit! Sorry. Sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Yang said, letting go quickly and backing away.

“No! No it’s fine. I deserved it with how much I made you suffer.” Blake replies quietly, bowing her head in shame.

Instead of replying, Yang simply stepped forwards and enveloped the raven-haired girl in another tight embrace.   
She stiffened upon contact but soon relaxed and melted into the hug. 

“Maybe I’ll take you up on that sushi-restaurant offer.” Blake said, laughing quietly.

Yang chuckled. “Yeah, if we can get out of here first. And after we’ve talked everything over properly.”

Panic instantly started to set in, in Blake’s mind. Her breathing quickened and in return, Yang tightened the embrace. “Don’t worry about it right now. I just wanna know everything in between and stuff. So don’t worry about it.” The blonde explained, talking softly.

“Okay.” Came Blake’s quiet, raspy reply.

Again, they stayed in the tight embrace for a few more moments. The silence was more comforting than it had been for a long time.

“We should try to find Ruby or even Weiss. Maybe Weiss has found Ruby by now.” Yang said, pulling away from the embrace.

“We...we can't go near Ruby right now. She’s...she’s not Ruby at the moment.” Blake said, her voice a whisper.

“What do you mean?” Came the blonde’s question.

“Well...she’s slowly turning into a Grimm.” The raven-haired girl simply said, earning a shocked expression from the blonde.

“Shit. We can’t just leave her with Weiss. We have to find her! Now!” Yang said, desperation seeping into her voice. “Come on!” 

With that, Yang stormed out of the large room they’d ended up in with Blake following behind closely. They rushed down the halls and came across a scene that would forever be ingrained into their very beings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that’s chapter 30. Sorry it’s not very long. But that’s why I’m posting the next chapter in a little while.   
> Hope it’s not too cliche or anything. I couldn’t really think of how to write this chapter without dragging it all out. Never really been inept in writing Bumblebee but I have tried.  
> Anyways, see you all again in a little while. And don’t forget, Happy Reading! :)


	31. Blood Covered Snow, Broken Little Dragon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss finally finds Ruby in a blood covered hallway. But it isn’t Ruby. It’s a nightmare possessing the younger girl’s body.  
> What will Weiss do? Will she fight back and subdue the rogue Reaper or will she try to save the her from herself?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, it’s a bit earlier than I anticipated but it’s better to post it now since I’ve sorted out the ‘errors’ in this chapter.  
> And yes, this is a mainly Whiterose chapter but there is a split off at the end where we see where Winter got to.  
> I hope you enjoy the chapter and don’t want to kill me for what’s in store for two of the characters.  
> Happy Reading! :)
> 
> P.S. You’ll all notice a tumblr link- you might wanna have a look at it when you get to it. It’s a new piece of work by Akakumu43 showing the scene you’ll end up reading about. And yes, it is half way into the fic- I don’t know how to make it come up a proper picture.

It didn’t take as long as she’d thought it would to find her. All Weiss did was follow the trail of corpses. She came across the young faunus just as she was cutting through three others, their body’s splitting in two at different angles. It made a shiver run down her spine but she steeled herself and walked as calmly as she could down the bloodstained hall.

“Ruby!” Weiss called out.

The rogue Reaper turned to face her. What she saw will forever plague her dreams. Whether it be day or night. She would never get the image out.

She instantly knew something was wrong with Ruby. Something was very wrong. Her eyes were no longer a mischievous silver or even the silver-red Weiss had come to adore. It made her heart break into pieces seeing her partner the way she is.  
All Weiss saw was death and destruction in the crimson red eyes that stared back at her. Unrecognisable eyes seemingly staring right through to her very soul. It made another shiver run down her spine, fear growing in places it had never been before, loneliness she always felt even with people around and much, much more.

Ruby didn’t seem to recognise her at all; even after what happened at Winter’s apartment. The evidence was her snarling and growling like a rabid wolf. That and the bone like mask beginning to grow on one half of her face, the red markings on both sides, on her hands and all of the skin she could see.  
Weiss was terrified. Terrified of the sight in front of her. Her partner, her teammate was becoming a Grimm right in front of her. She had to save her somehow. She had to bring back the teammate she’d began to love. But how? How was she supposed to do that when all she wanted to do was run. Run and never come back, lest she die by the hands of the rabid Grimm in front of her.

‘No. I can’t run. I have to save her somehow. I must. I can’t leave her like this even if it kills me trying.’ The white-girl thought, gripping Myrtenaster tighter in her hand and raising it as though she were ready to fight.

She was not.

Instantly recognising the new hostility, ‘Ruby’ shot forwards in a blast of withered rose petals. Her deadly scythe swinging round to meet Weiss’ rapier. A resounding *clang* echoed through the hall. Their battle the beginning of pain and sorrow.

Weiss didn’t want to fight her partner. She really didn’t. But what choice did she have? She wanted to help her somehow and maybe fighting her could do the trick to snap her out of it.

All Weiss could do right now was defend against the onslaught of powerful swings of a destructive scythe, flaming scythe.

Before she knew it, Ruby had disappeared. Giving her a small break. Her hands and arms had started to go numb from how hard Ruby had been swinging her newer, deadlier weapon. She was barely able to defend against her.

Unfortunately, her breather didn’t last long. The smell of withered roses filled her nose as well as the instinct to turn around, telling her that Ruby was behind her, ready to cut her down. She didn’t have much time to turn and defend so instead, she summoned a glyph behind her.  
Not a second later, Ruby’s scythe bounced off, the glyph cracking in the middle. Another hit like that, she’d be done for. She needed to double up the durability of her next glyphs so they wouldn’t shatter. So that’s what she did whilst her partner regained her battle stance, seemingly thinking about how she could get around Weiss’ glyphs.

The instance another but stronger glyph formed, Ruby attacked, swinging her scythe in a deadly, wide arc. The flames sputtering and flickering in the low lighting.  
This time Weiss was ready and summoned another glyph behind her, just in case. It was so draining. Her aura reserves were slowly but surely depleting. It seemed like Ruby’s was not. If she still had an aura.

The clanging of metal on glyphs echoed throughout the hall: when one shattered, another one was put in place, but just barely in time.

Ruby was fast. Faster than before. Her attacks were too fast to see with just human eyes but her instincts were telling her, the young Reaper would come from above.

Her instincts were right as Ruby left another pile of withered petals floating in the air. This time, however, she had no time to react with her glyphs and only just managed to bring her rapier up in time to block the powerful attack.

That was a mistake she would never be able to take back.

The force of the blow not only knocked her weapon to the ground, but it broke it in two. Both parts of the thin blade clanged to floor.  
Predictably, Ruby swung her scythe back up to bring it back down to finally end Weiss’ life.

Time slowed to a stop in that moment. That terrifying, death assured moment.  
Weiss knew she would fail. She knew she’d fail her partner. She was supposed to be the best teammate ever. She was supposed to rescue Ruby and help her. She was supposed to make Ruby snap out of whatever she was in. She promised to stop Ruby from becoming a Grimm. But now look at her. She was practically a Grimm now. A humanoid Grimm with unstoppable strength and power. But she still had to be in there right? She had to be.

Fear and defeat left her body as quickly as it had come. Her resolve stronger than ever before to help her partner. To help the one she loved.  
‘I can’t give up yet. I can’t give up on my partner. Not now, not ever!’ She vowed to herself, creating time dilation glyphs behind her.  
As soon as she did, time went back to normal. Speeding back up. Fortunately, her speed glyphs moved her out of the way before the downward swing of Ruby’s scythe could hit her. It was a close call, her combat skirt being shredded on the side with a dribble of blood where a small cut lay. A tiny burn slightly searing on her leg.

That move seemed to anger her partner further as she stalked forward, growling loudly.  
Weiss had to get out of there. She had to! She couldn’t win this fight even if she wanted to. But she didn’t want to give up. Not yet. Her partner was still in there somewhere. She had to try to snap Ruby out of it.  
“Ruby! Stop! Please, it’s me! It’s Weiss! Stop fighting, you don’t have to fight anymore!”  
The pleading words fell on deaf ears. It only made the rabid girl dash forwards but not with her semblance. She must have used it up. That gave Weiss enough time to set up three consecutive glyphs in front of her.

Ruby’s scythe bounced off and shattered the first two, the second strike making her lose grip of her weapon. It went flying backwards down the hall. She didn’t stop to get it. It seemed she didn’t need to as she all but punched right through the third glyph, shattering it into millions of tiny pieces. Just like Weiss’ heart.

Ruby was now so close, Weiss definitely wouldn’t be able to defend against the next attack. She had forgotten Ruby had claws. Much sharper claws like that of a Beowolf. She tried to defend against the next clawed attacks, her arms being shredded into ribbons. Ruby pulled back a hand and looked to be striking at Weiss’ arms. The white-haired girl instinctively tightened her defence. That was another mistake she would never be able to undo as a clawed-hand plunged deeply into her stomach, crimson liquid instantly began to pour out of the new wound. She coughed and couldn’t stop blood from coming up.

<https://rwbyfan1997.tumblr.com/post/625093303314087936/i-was-going-to-post-this-tomorrow-but-oh-well>

Weiss knew she was going to die. She’d known it all along. But she wasn’t scared of Ruby anymore. She was heart broken and ready for death. But she had one last thing to do, even with her partners hand in her stomach. One thing she didn’t think to do before.

She reached up and placed her arms around Ruby’s neck, pulling her in close. Her lips brushed lightly against Ruby’s before she pressed closer and their lips met completely.

Ruby’s lips were warm and soft, but now they were wet. Weiss was crying. She didn’t know why right now but she assuredly would soon enough. Maybe it had something to do with her dying and not being able to save her partner. Maybe it had something to do with dying and losing the person she’d fallen for. Maybe, just maybe.

There was no resistance, no pushing, no shoving and no growling. She opened her eyes to find one silver and one red eye staring back, tears streaming down one of Ruby’s cheeks.

“R...Ruby...” Weiss tried, her voice weak as her body was beginning to fail her. Black spots were starting appear in her vision. She was so tired. So, so tired. She wanted to sleep now and never wake up. Sleep sounded good.

“W...Weiss?” Ruby, the true Ruby questioned, dumbfounded to find Weiss so close to her. She hadn’t realised it yet. She hadn’t realised what she’d just done yet.  
Her hand felt warm and wet and squishy. She looked down and was horrified by what she saw. She instantly pulled her hand out, blood spurting out at the quick action, most likely damaging the wound more.  
“W...Weiss! I’m so...so sorry. Weiss pl...please stay awake. Please!” Ruby cried as Weiss eyes fluttered shut.

The young faunus carefully placed the former Heiress on the already blood covered ground and placed her hand firmly on Weiss’ stomach to try and stop the bleeding. It wasn’t working, the blood just kept on flowing out, staining her hands and the floor below.

What had she done? What happened for her to do this? Why would she want to kill her partner. The one person she had fallen in love with. And now she knew Weiss felt the same. But that was now a pipe dream as Weiss slowly began to fade into death.

“Weiss! Wake up! P...please!” the younger girl sobbed, still trying desperately to stop the blood from flowing out.

When Weiss didn’t move and her breathing became so shallow, like she wasn’t breathing at all, Ruby’s cries grew louder and louder.  
“WEISS! PLEASE WAKE UP! PLEASE!”

Weiss must have heard her, her eyes lazily fluttering open. “R...Ruby d...don’t cry. It’s o...okay...” her voice was nothing more than a whisper, blood coming out of her mouth as she tried to speak.

“Ruby!” A voice so familiar called out to her, but she ignored it and stared at Weiss.

Heavy footfalls came closer at speed, a blur of yellow sliding to a stop on its knees. It was Yang. Full of panic and fear. She looked down to Weiss and felt her throat tighten.

Weiss’ eyes had closed again, her breathing even more shallow, the bleeding still not slowing down.

“Ruby what happened? Ruby tell me what happened?” Yang frantically asked, trying to shake the younger girl out of her sorrow.

“I...I’ve k...killed her. She..she’s dying.” Ruby stuttered out, loud sobs wracking her entire frame, tears flowing non-stop down her face.

“Ruby? Ruby look at me. We can save her. She’ll be okay.” Yang said, her own eyes filling with tears. She didn’t actually know whether or not they could save Weiss. She didn’t know what could be done.

Fortunately, an idea struck her. It was stupid and might not do anything for Weiss. But it had to be tried.

“Ruby, listen to me. I know you can save her from near death. Use the Grimm energy within you to save her.” Yangs suggestion didn’t fall on deaf ears as Ruby looked up to her, her tear stained face full of shock.

“I...I can’t Yang. I ca...can’t-“

“Yes you can. You have to do it! She’ll die otherwise!” Yang interrupted, hoping to get it into Ruby’s head that they might be able to save Weiss. She didn’t have much time left.

“There’s an easier way than trying to give her Grimm energy that way. We can take her to the lab and inject her with just enough to start the healing process.” The voice of Blake said from halfway down the hall.

Ruby looked up and anger instantly began to cloud her mind again. Blake has betrayed them and now she must pay for it. It was her fault that Weiss was dying.

A frail hand on her chest made the anger melt away instantly. She looked down and saw that Weiss was awake again. But not for long.

“The...there’s no time to...to get to the lab! I have to...to do something now.”

With that, Ruby tried to focus the energy within her. She began to glow a crimson red then it turned black, evidence of the corruptive Grimm energy.

As soon as it had all gathered, she infused it with her own aura, every last drop of it. She’d probably die from giving it all away but it’s what she deserved after doing what she did to Weiss.

She pooled her aura and Grimm energy into her hands and released it all into Weiss. It took a few moments for her aura to drain but there seemed to be an endless supply of Grimm energy. Unfortunately, she had to stop. Everything around her was spinning, her nose began to bleed, then eyes and ears. She coughed and blood spurted out. The strain of giving Weiss all of her aura affecting her too badly to continue.

As soon as the dizziness went away, Ruby, Yang and Blake waited. They waited and waited for something to happen. Nothing happened. If anything, Weiss’ breathing became even more shallow. Yang immediately felt for a pulse and was relieved to find one, albeit, a very weak one.

“She’s still alive. We need to get her out of here and get her some help.” It fell on deaf ears as Ruby just continued to stare at Weiss. “Ruby? You okay?” Yang asked, concern stretching across her tear stained face.  
Blake stepped forwards carefully, kneeling down on Ruby’s other side. She went to place a hand on the younger faunus but didn’t and pulled her arm back.

“Ruby? Can you hear me?” Yang questioned, worry etched onto her face.

As if to answer her question, the young Reaper looked up, but she wasn’t looking at Yang. It was like she was looking through her. The young Reaper’s silver eye suddenly turned blood red once more, the bone mask began to steadily grow over her face again, enveloping her other eye.

“Ruby?” The brawler inquired warily. She placed a hand on the younger girl’s shoulder.

Big mistake.

The Grimm-like hand shot upwards in an instant, claws sinking deep into the flesh of Yang’s chest, puncturing through with ease.  
She sputtered and tried to breath. It only made the bleeding worse and ultimately, making death come knocking much faster.

Blake jumped up out of the way, keeping her distance from the rogue Reaper.

“Ru…by...” Is all she said before falling backwards, her lilac eyes losing their light almost instantly.

Blake stayed put; shock, anger and sadness flashing across her face as she took in the scene of what had just happened. She thought to run but that wouldn’t get her anywhere in the long term.  
She was abruptly taken out of her shock as a roar of grief erupted from the rogue Reaper.

“NOOO!” Ruby roared, gaining her sense of self once more. She saw what she’d done to Yang. She’d not only killed Weiss but now she’d done the same to Yang. “NO! No. No. No!!” Fresh tears spewed from her eyes. She didn’t know that Weiss was still alive nor that Yang could still be saved if they moved quickly.

Blake thought of leaving the unstable faunus where she was but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She picked up Yang’s limp frame before desperately saying,  
“Ruby. Ruby come on! We have to go! We can still save them!”

At the thought of saving her beloved partner and her cousin, Ruby completely snapped out of it. She carefully picked Weiss up, tears still streaming down her face. The Ladybug pair carried their respective partners through the halls of the research facility, hoping to find some sort of help on the other side.

————————————————————-

In another part of the facility, Winter had finally found Jacques Schnee’s office.  
It was an absolute mess.  
She carefully walked in, keeping her weapon poised and ready to strike an enemy down.  
There weren’t any.

There was just a bull faunus groaning in pain on the floor, his legs just above his knees were missing.

“Help. Help me…” he whimpered pathetically.

“Where is Jacques Schnee and then I will help you.” Winter states, ever the professional.

The bull pointed to the scratched up desk. She walked over to it and found the corpse of her father. His throat had been crushed.

She should have been sad. She should have been angry. But she wasn’t. She was relieved to have finally gotten rid of the vile man that had plagued her and her sister’s lives.  
She stared for a moment, trying to feel some sort of emotion but she couldn’t feel anything.

After a moment, the older Schnee sister took out her scroll and called General Ironwood.

“Sir, it’s me. I can confirm that Jacques Schnee is responsible for the illegal research facility as well as the abduction and, possibly, murder of several faunus. Plus, the experimentation on humans and faunus. We can’t bring him in for questioning. He’s dead.” She explained as quickly as she could with no amount of emotion in her voice.

“Thank you for letting me know. Have you found the Crimson Reaper? What about the Minotaur?” The voice of the General said on the scroll.

“No, Sir. There’s been no sign of the Crimson Reaper. The Minotaur is here. He’s severely injured. What should I do with him?” Winter replied, looking back at the bull faunus.

“Bring him in for questioning. Concerning the facility, I will send reinforcements to lock it down. If you do find the Crimson Reaper, subdue her and bring her in. Keep me updated on everything that happens in that facility.” General Ironwood responded, giving out his orders.

“Yes, Sir.” the white-haired woman said before the call ended.  
She moved over to the bull faunus and immediately began to treat what remained of his legs; encasing the ends with ice.

After treating him, she knocked him out and slowly dragged him down the many hallways.  
Thankfully, she found no one to stop her. It seemed like everyone was either dead or had given up and fled.  
She soon came across the bloodied and corpse filled hallway and retraced her steps back to the entrance.  
She didn’t see nor hear anything of Weiss or her team. They were either dead or had gotten out. Little did she know, her younger sister was currently on death's door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please don’t kill me. I’ve literally been debating whether to kill Yang off or not. Or even Weiss. Still not sure tbh. But both of their lives are in my hands.  
> Anywho, I hope you enjoyed regardless. It was surprisingly an easy chapter to write since I’d written about half of it around a month ago.  
> Buuuut that’s the end of this chapter. Got maybe one or two chapters to go before the end of this story. On the last chapter, I have a nice surprise for everyone.  
> Thanks for reading everyone and I’ll see you all in a week! Byeeeee


	32. Changed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continues from chapter 31 then cuts to seven months later.
> 
> You’ll have to read the chapter to know what happens XD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hewwwwoooo. I am really sorry that I’ve taken such a long time with this chapter. I was struggling like hell with writing it.  
> I’m also actually going to say, this is the last chapter of Crimson Reaper.  
> I’ll say more on that at the end but for now, enjoy the last chapter! Happy Reading! :)

It had taken them too long to climb the diagonal elevator shaft, the piece of machinery having been shut down not long after Ruby went rogue. She was still fighting the evil within her as they climbed the long shaft. It wasn’t easy to fight against your own mind that was constantly telling you to just kill the cat faunus next to you, that was always telling you to kill your partner that was barely even breathing and to kill your cousin that was so gravely injured she might not make it either way.  
It felt like the hardest battle she’d ever fought, the half-Grimm girl had almost given in a few times walking up but she somehow managed to pull herself back before she went too far. The young Reaper had the feeling of dread, a feeling that another type of battle was yet to rear its ugly, bloodstained head. 

That feeling of dread only multiplied into complete, utter panic and fear as a voice behind them bellowed out for them to stop where they were and surrender.

“You two, stop where you are and surrender immediately!”

Both girls stopped and turned slowly and carefully, both wearing surprised expressions when they saw who it was. Ruby had to do a double take after making sure her partner was still in her arms.  
In front of them stood an older, taller version of Weiss. She was gorgeous, even with her hair escaping what used to be a perfect bun, blood stains on her cheeks and clothing. Even with the legless body of Adam Taurus draped over her shoulders. 

The white-haired woman that stood a few metres away looked down at Ruby’s arms, her expression going from a Schnee scowl to an incredibly concerned look. She immediately and unceremoniously dropped the bull faunus draped over her shoulder onto the floor, a low groan emanating from the injured man.  
The older Schnee ran the small distance and made to take her younger sister from the young Reaper’s arms. Ruby growled lowly in warning. A warning not to touch Weiss, even if the woman was her sister. 

“Give her to me you animal!” The older Schnee said angrily. “She needs immediate medical attention and you’re just stopping her from getting it! It’s like you want her to die!”

Rage boiled in the young Reaper’s blood in an instant. Not at being called an animal but at the fact this woman thought she wanted Weiss to die.  
“How dare you assume such a thing!” Ruby growled out, holding Weiss tighter to herself. “I would never want Weiss to die! I care for her too much for that to happen.” The rage and hatred left her body as she said the last sentence. Weiss was barely breathing and she definitely needed help as soon as possible.  
Tears soon threatened to escape her one silver eye, her emotions all mixed up between anger, hatred, sadness and unrequited guilt. Her fluffy ears stayed flattened against her head, her tail tucking itself between her legs.

The white-haired woman sighed, the tension in her body releasing all at once. She may seem heartless and emotionless but she knew the look of someone in love, only because she was in love with someone she may never actually have a chance with.

“Look, the Atlas Military is outside this building. If they even catch sight of you, they have orders to shoot on sight. You have no aura and no weapon; I doubt you could last five minutes with the amount of firepower that’s currently waiting for you.” The older Schnee explained, pausing to let the information sink in before continuing. “If you pass Weiss to me, I’ll make sure she gets the medical attention she needs. Standing here and talking or even fighting won’t solve anything and won’t keep her alive for long. It will not stop her from dying. I promise she will survive if you pass her to me. I won’t chase you down or tell anyone that you ran if you want to escape whilst you can.” 

Ruby thought as quickly as she could, weighing her options and thinking scenarios through and none of them ended with her survival. A moment later and she’d decided the best course of action to make sure team RWBY survived.

“Alright. Don’t come after me. Get Weiss help. And Yang. Don’t put Blake in prison, none of this was her fault. Please don’t let any of my teammates die, or i'll take it upon myself to hunt you down.” She spoke softly but her voice was laced with authority, the threat of being hunted wasn’t empty at all either.

“You have my word. I never break my word. If Belladonna doesn’t want to face prison time, she must run as well.” Winter replied, reaching out for Weiss.

“I won’t run. I deserve to face the consequences of my actions. I’m sick of running from trouble.” Blake piped up for the first time since the bloodied hallway. 

“Fine. We need to get going. These two aren’t looking good at all.” Winter said, looking between her sister and Yang.

Ruby reluctantly passed the younger Schnee to the white-haired woman, a solitary tear escaping from her one silver eye. She would never see Weiss again. She’d be hunted down for the rest of her life. She’d never see Yang or even Blake again either. Team RWBY would forever be forced apart all because she couldn’t control her emotions. 

She stared at Weiss, her face was so pale and she was definitely going to die if she didn’t get medical care. The young faunus softly caressed the dying girl’s cheek, moving a strand of hair behind her ear. She leant forwards ever so slightly and placed a gentle kiss on the younger Schnee’s forehead. “Goodbye Weiss. Remember that I’ll always love you no matter where I am or what I become.” She whispered before walking away, back into the facility.  
She did need to find her weapon after all. 

——————————————————————————-

7 months later

It was as cold as ever in Atlas, the snow constantly drifting from the sky, covering the land in a crystal sea of white.  
Ruby pulled her black cloak tighter around herself. She’d opted for darker clothing, Atlas being at that time of year where it was barely ever daylight. Black cloak, already damaged on the ends. A black corset and skirt accompanied with black stockings and her usual black combat boots.  
She was currently regretting her decision to wear a combat skirt in the frigid cold of Atlas.  
It had been a while since she’d been here, always having to avoid military personnel everywhere she went throughout the continent. 

The only reason she was back in Atlas city was because of a girl she wanted to visit.  
Weiss was still in the hospital, in a coma but thankfully no longer in danger.  
Every so often, Ruby visited the white-haired bursts, climbing through an opened window that was always open on the days she came back.  
She had an inkling that Winter, Weiss’ sister, was keeping an eye on her and making sure she could visit.

Standing on top of a building opposite the hospital Weiss was in, Ruby saw the window wasn’t open for once. Her theory of Winter making sure she could visit became just a random, hopeful thought.  
She could either wait around or come back another day. The latter wasn’t really an option for her so she decided to wait for a few hours. 

Sure enough, the window to Weiss’ room opened and surprisingly, Winter popped her head out. Even more surprisingly, she looked around before disappearing inside, only to return with what looked to be binoculars.  
Ruby froze, thinking of a way to escape if she were to be caught.  
Instead of running, she watched the older Schnee sister scout out the top and sides of some buildings before finding the younger girl crouched down. 

They stared for a moment before Winter pulled the binoculars away and gestures for Ruby to come to the room.  
She hesitated but made up her mind when Winter insisted.  
Red and black rose petals fluttered down onto the street below, the young Reaper easily making it to the window ledge of Weiss’ room.  
She cautiously looked in and around the room before entering, deeming it to be safe.

A long saber instantly flew towards her head. Unfazed and not shocked at all, she caught the offending object with ease, moving her head back to avoid being cut by the tip.

“That wasn’t very nice.” Ruby stated in an even tone, looking to her right to find Winter Schnee with a slightly shocked expression on her face.

The older woman’s face soon went back to neutrality as she pulled her saber out of the younger girl’s grip, slightly cutting her hand. It healed in an instant.  
Winter studied the young faunus, seeing differences compared to the last time she’d seen her.  
Black clothing and boots. Her signature red cloak replaced with a black one. One silver eye staring into her blue ones whilst the other was covered up with a black eyepatch. Well, half of her face was covered with the patch. The Grimm features from the facility seven months ago were also gone, only small, faded red veins travelled down the left side of her neck. Both hands were covered with black gloves that looked to have excellent grip on them.

“You’ve certainly… changed.” Winter stated, keeping her tone of voice even as well. 

“I’ve had to. The world isn’t exactly a good place to live, especially outside the walls.” Ruby explained, still keeping her voice emotionless. Her face also not giving anything away. 

“You live outside the walls of Mantle? In the Grimm infested forests?” The older Schnee questioned, obviously trying to get information out of the younger girl.

“I live everywhere but nowhere. I travel too much for any Grimm or hunters to ambush me.” The younger girl supplied, not giving anything specific away.

“Where is your weapon?” Came the next question.

“For me to know and for you to never find out.” Cake the easy, emotionless reply. “I know what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to see if I’m a bigger threat than I was seven months ago. I won’t be giving you any useful information about myself. I’m only here to see Weiss and then I’ll be gone.” She explained after pausing as a thought passed through her head.

“Are you a threat? Like you were back then?” The questioning from Winter never seemed to stop, she was always trying to gain valuable information on potential threats. Especially Ruby.

“Only to those who get in my way.” Came the venom-laced reply. The only small amount of emotion she allowed herself to show.

Winter was temporarily surprised at the venom in the younger girl’s voice but she soon composed herself and began to walk towards Weiss. Ruby followed her every movement and soon followed suit, standing on the opposite side to where the older woman was.

They stood in silence, watching the younger Schnee breath with the aid of a machine. The slow and steady beat of her heart beeping on the machine next to the bed. Wires and IV lines snaked over and off her body and onto other noisy machines. It wasn’t a pretty sight and tears pricked at Ruby’s uncovered eye.  
She’d done this to Weiss. It was her fault Weiss was in this state. In a coma with not much hope of her coming out of it.  
The wound she’d inflicted had healed a while ago but Weiss was still trapped in her own unconsciousness. No one knew when she’d wake up. If she woke up at all.

The tears Ruby had tried so hard not to she’d finally escaped from their confines, wetting her right cheek instantly. A sobbed escaped before she could stop it. She fell to her knees and sought out Weiss’ hand, clasping it carefully between her own.

“I’m so sorry Weiss. I am so, so sorry. I never meant for any of this to happen. I hope you can forgive me one day.” She sobbed loudly, not caring that Winter was standing in the same room. 

She squeezed the limp hand and as she was just about to let go, she would have imagined that it squeezed back but the gasp of surprise from Winter said everything she needed to know.

The young faunus looked up at Weiss’ face, seeing her eyes partially open. She instantly jumped back up from the floor, knowing that if Weiss was waking up, she’d no doubt start to choke on the tube currently down her throat. 

“Weiss? Weiss can you hear me?” Winter questioned the younger Schnee, taking a hold of her hand and squeezing it. 

The white-haired girl’s eyes seemed to fly open as she recognised the voice of her sister. She instantly started choking on the tube.

“I’ll get a doctor.” Winter tried, starting to move towards the hospital room door.

“No time.” Ruby said as she reached out for the tube and pulled it out.  
Weiss immediately started coughing and spluttering, trying to get an unassisted breath in.  
Ruby acted quickly and placed an arm under the white-haired girl, bringing her to a sitting position. She patted her back, trying to get Weiss to breath on her own.

Weiss responded to the random treatment quickly and took in long, deep breaths.  
Ruby quickly laid her former partner back down then lifted the top end of the bed up a bit.

The young Reaper saw Weiss’ mouth move but no sound accompanied the movement. Ruby tilted her head in confusion like a puppy.  
As shitty as Weiss felt, a small smile still managed to grace her lips. She tried to speak again and this time Ruby understood what she wanted, even though there was no sound.

The young faunus let go of the former-heiress’ hand, looked around the room and found what she was looking for.  
She walked over to it and filled up a plastic cup of cold water and brought it back to Weiss.

She helped her take sips from the cup before being signalled she’d had enough. Ruby took the cup back to the sink and emptied it then walked back. They stared at each other for a while.

“Miss Rose.” Winter said, interrupting them. Ruby looked up at her. “The doctor and a few nurses will be on their way here any moment. I suggest you get out of here before they see you.” 

“But..but she’s just woken up. I can’t go, not yet. Not now.” Ruby tried to plead. 

Winter wasn’t having it.  
“I’m sorry Miss Rose. Everyone thinks you’re dead and they will recognise you even if you have changed the way you look. You need to go. Now.”

“But…but... okay.” She tried again but signed in defeat. “Will I see her again?” Ruby said, a small amount of hope seeping into her singular eye.

“That remains to be seen.” As Winter replied, the room’s door opened and ruby instantly disappeared in a flurry of red and black roses.

“Goodbye Weiss. I’ll see you again some day.” She said as she vanished, her voice seemingly echoing after her. 

Now back outside, Ruby didn’t stop running for a long time, trying so hard to not turn back. She eventually made it back to the edge of the city. She could’ve taken an airship back down but instead, she simply jumped, using her semblance and Infernal Rose to make her landing as safe as possible.  
If she were a normal human or faunus, the drop would have definitely killed her but she wasn’t normal. She was more Grimm than faunus or even Reaper.m so no wonder she survived the jump.

Clearing her head, the young Reaper began her trek into the dense, snow-filled forest; hoping that she’d find some Grimm to take out her anger on. And her sadness, her guilt and pain.  
She walked for hours before finding anything remotely challenging, even then a giant deathstalker was now child’s play to her. 

With a war cry and the release of her own Grimm energy, the deathstalker was downed before it even knew to turn around.  
The young Reaper continued through the forest, losing herself to the slashing of her scythe and the falling of her foes. It was no wonder she always stayed in the forests for as long as she did. She always lost herself to the fighting, the anger, the guilt, the violence and the destruction of the creatures she hated with every part of her being.

Soon enough, there weren’t any other Grimm within the part of the forest she was strolling through. She needed to find more Grimm to kill, so off she went, walking into the darkened forest towards the never ending frozen tundra of Solitas.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading Crimson Reaper. It’s been just over a year since I started writing this story and I am absolutely amazed at how many people have read it and appraised it with awesome feedback. The amount of hits this story has received every time I’ve uploaded a new chapter is simply amazing. The comments half of you have put have been my inspiration to keep writing this story. I sometimes felt like giving up but then you lot ended up motivating me enough to write several chapters at once.  
> I can’t thank you all enough for the support and everything in between.  
> I especially can’t thank Akakumu43 enough for the fanart you created just for my story. I hope you will continue to do fanart for it.
> 
> I also have an announcement to make. Some of you probably already know.  
> I am going to be writing a sequel to Crimson Reaper. I already have the name of it but it’ll be a while until I post the first chapter.  
> I will be doing a few chapters on my other story (that I deleted for a bit), Divine Destiny’s.  
> If you want another chapter to know what happened to Blake and Yang, let me know and I’ll see what I can do. Other than that, thank you everyone and I’ll see you when I start writing DD! Byeeeeee :D


	33. The Rose, the Dragon and the Bear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First part is set a few days after the facility and then the second part is set a month later. 
> 
> Ruby ‘visits’ Yang who is in a coma from what Ruby did to her- not knowing something that’ll break her heart.  
> She runs away and meets ‘someone’ that surprisingly doesn’t kill her and actually helps to keep her sane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heeey guys! Guess what!? I have a surprise bonus chapter for you all!   
> It might seem a little far-fetched but I promise I’ll explain in Book 2.   
> It just didn’t feel like this book was finished and just had to do one more chapter to properly finish it off. I had to do a part with Yang and Ruby but it wasn’t long enough so I ended up doing a time lapse/cut scene and put more into this chapter.   
> So, I hope you all enjoy the final, final chapter of Crimson Reaper! :)

A few days after the facility incident

‘Yang. I’m so sorry.’ Ruby thought as she stood in the shadows of the blonde’s hospital room.  
She’d been rushed in a few days ago, after the whole facility incident.   
Not long after finding Infernal Rose, the Grimm-like girl had set the facility ablaze but not before grabbing something that could save Yang's life. The news reported the fire constantly, constantly droning on about it. They probably still were. Of course, they’d been given a completely different story to what actually happened. The Atlas Military has covered it all up. Including that of Jacques Schnee’s reasons to his death.   
It boiled her blood but it’s not like she could do anything about it, unless she wanted to die.

Retrieving the item she’d stolen from a concealed pocket, she walked over to the side of the bed and debated with herself on whether or not Yang could survive it. The young Reaper had managed to snag a few syringes full of the black ooze they’d injected into her and so many others.  
But since her blonde cousin was born a half-Reaper, Ruby took a gamble and began to look for a viable vein in Yang’s arm.   
She found one and hesitated momentarily before shaking her head and pushing the needle into her cousins arm. She slowly and carefully pushed the black Grimm liquid into Yang’s body, causing a few veins to temporarily pop up black and red before receding back to normal.

Ruby watched and waited, the blonde wasn’t responding to it just yet. Soon enough, however, the brawler’s eyes began to flit about behind her still closed eyes before slowly glittering open.  
Ruby really didn’t want Yang to see her and bolted back into the shadows, the only thing that could be seen being her shining red eye where the Grimm-like mask still enveloped her face.

She watched her cousin for a little while, hoping that she wouldn’t fall back into her coma or die from the effects of the black goop.   
The young faunus was relieved to find that Yang was responding to the goop very quickly. She’d sat up and grabbed the button to call the nurse who soon rushed in, only to rush out again. She promptly returned with a doctor who began asking questions and minor tests after turning the lights on.   
Ruby immediately activated her semblance, bursting through a door where the lights were still off. It was the bathroom. She turned to look back out through the door to watch the doctor and her cousin.  
Yang had kept her eyes to a squint, the bright luminescent lighting hurting her eyes. She soon opened them again, blinking rapidly to get used to the new lighting.  
Ruby was surprised to find the blonde’s eyes had turned blood red. Just like hers were before she became a half-Grimm. Now one was silver and the other a glowing crimson, shining through the eyehole of her half-mask. 

Soon enough, the doctor and the nurse left, most likely returning later on. Yang got up from her bed, the wound in her chest surprisingly already almost healed.   
‘That’s what happens when you use Grimm goop on a half-Reaper, I guess.’ She thought as she watched her cousin intently.  
Panic soon began to rise as Yang stood and made her way to the bathroom that Ruby currently stood in.

She watched as Yang reached for the door handle before stopping dead, her hand a couple of inches from the door handle.   
Ruby instinctively backed away as Yang narrowed her eyes before bursting through the door with astounding strength, considering she’d not long ago awoke from a coma. 

Her fist crashed into Ruby’s jaw, shattering the half-formed Grimm mask. The powerful hit could have killed a normal person but Ruby wasn’t normal. Or a human. It still made her brain rock around her skull.  
She felt another swing coming from the right. The young faunus knew she’d definitely be knocked for six if it actually hit. So at the last moment, she activated her semblance and disappeared in a flurry of black, wilted rose petals, appearing again in the adjoining room. 

Back in the bathroom, Yang stopped dead once more, staring at the rose petals that littered the floor. She turned on her heel and slowly came back into the hospital room, following the trail of black petals.   
Her eyes followed the path until they reached the young Reaper’s boots, travelling upwards to meet the wide eyed gaze of a young girl with odd eyes; wearing a torn cape and unkempt corset and combat skirt. 

“Who...who are you?” Was the quiet question from the blonde.   
Ruby’s heart seemed to explode at the question. Her head began to spin and before she knew it, she’d bolted through a closed window, the glass shattering instantly.  
“No one.” She had said just before disappearing.

Yang stood there in shock, completely bewildered at what had just happened. Security guards and a doctor came rushing in soon after who instantly began to question the blonde. She recounted everything that had happened and the guards left to look at security camera footage.   
The doctor only stayed a few more moments before instructing her to stay away from the window whilst they sort out another room for her. 

Back with Ruby, the only thought running through her head was ‘she doesn’t remember me. I’m so stupid!’   
The young faunus ran as fast as she could and as far away as possible from the hospital, from Atlas.   
Eventually, she had to stop, realising she’d ran a little too far and gotten herself lost.   
Guilt, sadness and anger riddled her soul and now that she was lost in a snowy forest far away from anything, panic began to rise. She’d never felt so helpless. So weak. So afraid.

She constantly spun around in a circle, checking the many trees for any sign of Grimm. The only were the trees swaying in place as the wind picked up. The sounds of small animals chirping to each other found her ears but nothing that resembled a Grimm.   
The young Reaper took in some deep breaths, calming herself down so she could think more rationally.  
She began to trudge through the snow-covered forest, hoping to find some sort of cave. She walked for half an hour before finally sighting what looked to be a decent sized cave. 

“Finally!” Ruby said, thinking out loud and quickening her pace. She soon made it to the entrance of the cave and was just about to enter when a low growl emitted from the darkness.  
“Just my fucking luck.” She muttered, backing away from the cave’s mouth.

Another growl sounded out, louder and much more full of unbridled hate. Ruby instinctively let out her own threatening growl as a large hulking mass of an Ursa Major stomped out of the cave and stood on its hind legs. It was covered in white armour plating and spikes riddled its back. It’s claws weren’t something to scoff at and neither were its teeth.   
It bared them as it growled loudly. Ruby responded in kind, baring her own sharp teeth, her ears pinned back on her head and her tail standing up straight.   
Her vision began to turn red and the feeling of a mask growing back tingled across her face. Her Grimm arm seeming to ‘build’ more armour on itself, evidently preparing her for a difficult fight.

It was like a light had been switched off. One minute the Ursa Major was growling and readying its first attack, the next it slumped back down onto all fours and whimpered, bowing its head down in front of the half-Grimm girl. 

Ruby was surprised beyond belief at the submissive display not commonly seen in any type of Grimm. Ursa Major especially. Their aggressive tendencies and pure hatred that radiated off of them put them at the top of most lists on the most unlikely Grimm to back down.   
They would normally charge in and just attack with their large claws and brute strength, often taking down several huntsmen-in-training.

Astoundingly, the large mass of Grimm lay down, bowing its head further. Ruby didn’t know what to do at first until she spotted the unmistakable shape of a weapon hilt poking out of its back. 

‘Does it want me to pull this thing out or something?’ Ruby questioned herself in her head.   
It whimpered again, seemingly answering her question. She obliged, reaching out and grabbing the hilt. She pulled. The beast roared and reared up onto its hind legs again. The beast looked down at the small Grimm-like girl. It decided it best not to try and kill the strange creature in front of it, lest it die trying.   
Instead, it stood back on all fours and moved from the entrance of the cave, giving Ruby access to it.

She hesitated, earning herself grunting noises from the large Grimm. She shook her head and walked into the cave. The Ursa Major simply lay down in front of the entrance, guarding the strange humanoid Grimm.

———————————————————————

A month later

The young faunus awoke at dawn, laying on her side in the cave she’d found a month ago.  
Within the month, she’d found an unlikely friend in the Ursa Major and often found herself snuggling into it on the coldest of nights.   
It constantly stayed by her side, even when she went hunting for food or just took a walk.   
It protected her from other lesser forms of Grimm even though she was fully capable of doing it herself. To say it was strange was an understatement. 

The young Reaper grew fond of the large beast and aptly named it Barrett. What made it even more strange was that the hulking black mass seemed to understand what she said and even responded to its name.

As she thought of the last month, her stomach rumbled, signalling she was hungry. The Bear Grimm grumbled as she moved to sit up. She couldn’t do so as Barrett had decided to lay its long furry arm on her, essentially pinning her to the ground. 

“Barrett, let go. I need to pee and I’m hungry.” She said and the Grimm responded with another grumble as it removed its giant arm.   
“Thank you.” The young Reaper said as she stood and walked out of the cave.

Ten minutes past and she was back in the cave trying to sharpen Infernal Rose, to no avail.  
She placed the blade down after realising it wouldn’t sharpen to what she wanted and moved outside into the cold, snowy forest.

Barrett was by her side the instant she stepped out, towering over her even though he was on all fours.   
The Grimm huffed and grunted as Ruby spoke of her former team in Beacon. Barrett wasn’t particularly interested but listened anyway.

As they rounded a tree, they came into a clearing where Barrett lazily watched the young Reaper train with Infernal Rose, gather firewood and faune over a baby animal that she’d sometimes spot.

Just as she started swinging her weapon, the care of a bird sounded out. She paid it no mind and carried on. It cawed again and again until she finally gave in and looked up at the trees.  
Perched on a branch was what looked to be a crow. But it was different. It had crimson red eyes and a tiny white, armoured mask over its face. It cawed at her and flew down, landing on her shoulder.

Now she had a better look at it, it looked like a tiny version of Nevermore. She went to pet it but it stretched its wings and flew off into the trees.  
Disappointed, she went back to her training, only for Barrett to start growling threateningly in the direction of where the crow Grimm had gone.

The hulking beast stood up on its hind legs and bared its teeth. Ruby looked in the same direction and found a man standing just on the tree line of the clearing. He walked into the dull lighting, Ruby gasped and held Infernal Rose in a defensive position.

The man lifted his arms up in surrender, showing he wasn’t a threat to either of them.  
Ruby’s ears still flattened atop her head and she bared her teeth in the same manner as her Grimm companion.

“What are you doing here, Dad.” She growled out, saying ‘dad venomously.  
He winced and kept his arms in the air.

“I’ve been looking for you. Didn’t think you’d be out here hanging out with a Grimm though.” Qrow replied quietly, knowing full well she’d be able to hear him.

“Why are you here? I didn’t want to be found.” She said, trying so hard not to growl again.  
Barrett was at her side, towering over her but not threatening her. More like ready to protect her.

Qrow sighed and ran a hand down his face before replying. “Look, I wanted to find you to help you. You’re currently a half Grimm Ruby. The longer you stay like this, the more of a chance you’ll have of becoming a full Grimm with no conscience. You’ll be a beast Ruby. A monster that kills indiscriminately.”

That was definitely the wrong thing to say. Ruby roared in a Grimm-like way and dashed forwards, wilted rose petals littering the ground.   
She swung Infernal Rose in an arc as she reappeared behind him only to miss.  
The annoying bastard vanished, the form of a crow-like Grimm gliding through the air replacing his body. 

Ruby screamed in frustration as he landed on a branch high in a tree. She watched as he transformed back so he could speak.  
“Ruby, please. I didn’t mean that-“ he tried but was interrupted.

“SHUT UP!” Ruby screamed. “YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THEM! I’ve learnt more about them in the past month than I ever did at Beacon!” 

“Tell me what you’ve learned about them then.” Qrow responded coolly, folding his arms I’ve this chest.

Ruby thought for a moment before replying. “You help them, they help you. They only defend themselves and aren’t monsters everyone thinks them to be.” 

“You’re right. But they don’t defend themselves in the way you’re thinking. They fight because it’s been an ongoing war for them since they came into existence. Maybe even before then.” He said, uncrossing his arm and slowly walking forwards.

Ruby was stunned into silence. She was right but she was wrong at the same time? How did that work. And what did he mean by an ongoing war. Who exactly were they fighting and why?

“I know what you’re thinking, Rubes. It’s not hard to question the apparent ongoing war, who they’re supposed to be fighting and maybe you’re even questioning the origins of the Grimm.” He answered, getting it all spot on.

“Do you know the answers to any questions I might have then?” She inquired, somehow completely calm which in turn, calmed Barrett down.

“I could, yeah. If you come back to my cabin with me, I’ll answer your questions and help you get rid of the Grimm properties growing on you.” He offered confidently.

“No. I’m not leaving Barrett. He’ll be hunted down and killed just for being a Grimm and protecting himself. So, no. I’m staying here.” She said, her resolve strong and unbreakable just like the bond she’d created with the Bear-like Grimm.

“Bring him with you. Sure I can find room for him near the cabin.” Qrow offered again, putting a smile on his face this time.

She thought the offer through thoroughly. There being more positives than negatives. She needed answers about her true nature, about the Grimm that had stayed by her side for a whole month, how Reapers came into existence and so on. She had too many questions that she wanted answered to.  
Finally, she gave him her answer.

“Fine, but you’re gonna tell me the truth on everything. Including everything about Mum. And you’re gonna train me new combat skills.” She offered back, her voice the epitome of seriousness.

“Yeah, fine. Just don’t think you’ll be getting away with slacking off or anything.” He replied, a small smirk slowly making its way onto his face as he turned away and started walking back into the forest.

Ruby simply rolled her eyes and motioned for Barrett to follow. The large Grimm obeyed and soon matched the young Reaper’s pace, walking next to her and looking out for any threats.

The journey for all three of them would be a long one. For Ruby especially. Now that she was going to get answers. She felt better than she did when she first ran into the forest, Barrett being the only thing to keep her from going insane from guilt and grief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so now it’s the end of Crimson Reaper.   
> If it doesn’t make much sense, I’ll be explaining parts of it in book 2- which I still need to announce the name of. That’ll be on tumblr when I officially start writing it.  
> Expect teasers of whatever chapters I write and any other news I might have.  
> I’ve also decided I’m going to start book 2 before I write Divine Destiny’s. Just not in the right mind set to write that story just yet.  
> Anyway, I better stop rambling and let you all do your own thing now.  
> Bye for nowww. And don’t forget, Happy Reading! :)


End file.
